Body camera footage has been released after white officers in the United States arrested a black teenager and handcuffed a second for allegedly jaywalking in an area of Oklahoma where there are few footpaths.
"I want every kid in Tulsa to feel safe to walk down the street in their neighbourhood. No Tulsa kid should have to fear being tackled and cuffed for walking down the street. I viewed that footage last night more as a parent than a mayor," he said.
"I know the officers in that unit focus on removal of illegal guns from the streets, but the goal of that work should be that families feel safe in their neighbourhood. This instance accomplished the opposite."
The penalty for jaywalking in the state is a fine of up to $500USD.
In footage of the 4 June incident, two teenage boys can be seen walking in the middle of the road.
One of the officers approaches the pair on foot from behind, while another pulls up in a police car.
One of the teens becomes frustrated and within seconds, police force him to the ground on his stomach with his hands behind his back.
The second teen is heard questioning the officer: “Why you got to put your hands on him bro? Why are you arresting him? Why are you putting handcuffs on him?”
The officer replies: “Because all he was doing was jaywalking and we just want to talk with him and then he had to act like a fool like that.”
An officer searches the second teen and handcuffs him, while telling his friend repeatedly “it’s not worth it to fight back”.
In the footage – where the juveniles have been blurred to protect their identity – an officer remains on top of the first teenager arrested as he is heard saying that he cannot breathe.
The teenagers repeatedly asked why they were being arrested. Source: Supplied
“Get off me, I can’t breathe,” he shouted.
The officer responds “you can breathe just fine” and "I don't care".
While he remains on the ground, the second teenager arrested sits on the curb.
“He has handcuffs on, what is he going to do?” the teen says.
As the officers start to take the boys to the police van, the first teen arrested is heard calling the officer “evil” and “racist”.
“Because I’m black, I’m a criminal?” he was heard shouting.
“You want to see me in jail or dead?”
As he was placed into the police car, he screamed out: “Call my momma”.
The second teen arrested was let go and instructed on how to avoid jaywalking in the future.
Throughout the footage, the teens repeatedly asked why they were being arrested.
The officers deemed they broke the law by jaywalking, despite there being no visible footpath in the area the teens were walking.
The Tulsa neighbourhood where the incident took place reportedly had patchy sidewalks or no visible footpaths.
City law outlines requirements pedestrians should follow when no pathway is provided.
“Where sidewalks are provided, it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon any adjacent roadway,” title 37 chapter 11 of the Tulsa Code of Ordinances states.
“Where sidewalks are not provided, any pedestrian walking along and upon a roadway shall, when practicable, walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder, facing traffic which may approach from the opposite direction.”
The arrest of the first teenager is under investigation by Tulsa police’s Internal Affairs Unit.
The body camera footage was released after community members pressured the department to do so after bystanders also caught the incident on camera.
The arrests come following the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.
The death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis has sparked worldwide Black Lives Matter protests. Source: AAP
The death sparked nation-wide protests calling for an end to police brutality and promoting the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement has since been held in cities across the world, with people standing in solidarity and showing their support for black and brown communities.
Top commander comes under fire for comments
One of Tulsa's top police commanders has come under fire for comments he made on one of the city's commercial radio stations, suggesting there is no systemic racism in the US police force.
"If a certain group is committing more crimes, more violent crimes, and law enforcement is having to come into more contact with them, then that number is going to be higher," Major Travis Yates said, according to Public Radio Tulsa.
"And, by the way, all the research says — including Roland Fryer, an African American Harvard professor, Heather MacDonald, and the National Academy of Sciences, all of their research says we're shooting African Americans about 24 per cent less than we probably ought to be based on the crimes being committed."
The Tulsa police department released a statement in response to Major Yates' comments.
“We want to make it clear the statements made by Yates are not part of any curriculum or training provided by the department. Yates’ comments do not align with the mission, values, or policies of the Tulsa Police Department,” it said.
Major Yates also defended his comments in a statement pointing out that he prefaced the academic research over his own opinions.
