Another video has surfaced showing an off-duty Lansing, Ill., police officer pinning down a black teen and threatening his life, all because the boy was trying to help a friend who happened to be on the officer’s property.
According to WGN TV, the incident began Saturday night when a few teenage boys got into a fight with another group of boys. The teens were able to get away. Jordan Brunson, 15, said he was trying to help his friend—who was sitting on the officer’s porch—because his friend had been beaten up pretty badly in the fight.
“I was examining him. I was going to go tell his grandmother,” Jordan told the news station.
That’s when all hell broke loose, according to the report, with the officer coming out of nowhere.
“You guys are on my fucking property!” the off-duty cop can be heard saying on the video as he holds Jordan down on the grass using his knee, his hand on the boy’s neck.
“Let me go!” Jordan can be heard pleading, sounding distressed.
“No, you are on my fucking property. I could fucking kill you,” the unidentified officer responds.
At one point, a woman’s voice is heard in the background saying that the police were on their way before she adds, “You guys came to the wrong house!”
Jordan’s friend, who had been sitting on the officer’s porch, is the one who shot the video. The teen can heard on camera sounding agitated, attempting to find a solution to the situation, as the video image itself moves from side to side as if the teen is pacing back and forth while filming.
“Bro, we can just forget all about this and run,” the teen filming can be heard saying on the video. “Let him go!”
“Why are you doing this?” Jordan then adds.
Jordan told the news station that the officer never identified himself as a police officer, never asked the teens what they were doing on the property and never asked them to leave the property before launching his attack.
Jordan’s aunt, Lashawna Brunson, says she is outraged at what she has seen in the video and is demanding that the officer be brought up on charges.
“If he wasn’t an officer, just a regular man, would they do the same thing? No, he’d be locked up,” she said.
The Lansing Police Department released a statement about the incident, saying in part, “An off-duty Lansing police officer, outside on his personal property, became involved when he was approached by two other subjects involved in the fight. One of the juveniles had visible minor injuries, and the other was temporarily detained for further investigation until the arrival of on-duty officers.”
Read more at WGN TV.