'mashing his face into the sidewalk and causing gruesome wound'
A 19-year-old New York man claims he was the victim of police
brutality when he was tackled by several officers on a city street and had his
face scrapped against the pavement.
Robert Jackson, of Queens, said he did nothing wrong when he was
collared by police outside the Flushing YMCA on Northern Boulevard last month.
A cell phone video of the incident shows the 19-year-old on the
ground, with the cops kicking and pummeling him while demanding that he put his
hands behind his back.
'He had one arm over my head, one behind my back already. I'm
like, "I can't,"' Jackson said, referring to one of the arresting
officers. 'He's stepping on my arm. They're beating me in my face. I couldn't
move my arms, and I was trying to tell him that.'
Jackson's violent run-in with police on January 8 left him with a
ghastly horseshoe-shaped wound on the left cheek, marking the spot where his
face was dragged across the sidewalk, NY1reported.
Police filed a criminal complaint against Jackson, accusing the
19-year-old of spewing profanities at an officer, refusing to keep his hands
visible and attempting to bite a cop.
Civil rights leaders and Jackson's attorney, Jacques Leandre, said
the video of the arrest proves that the teenager was subjected to excessive
force.
'His face is rubbed against the asphalt until it takes off two or
three layers off his cheek,' Leandre said. 'That's policing we are not going to
stand for.'
The 54-second clip, which was unveiled by Jackson’s supporters
during a press conference Tuesday, shows three officers trying to restrain the
teen.
At least one of the cops could be seen punching Jackson, before a
fourth runs over and appears to strike him with a blunt object, prompting him
to cry out in pain. Even more officers later converge on the scene.
In the background, passersby could be heard screaming: 'Why are
they hitting him?' and 'They're actually jumping him!'
According to a criminal complaint filed against Jackson, police
found a small baggie containing marijuana on him. Following the incident, the
19-year-old was charged with possession, obstruction of governmental
administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest
Leandre, who is currently running for City Council, said he plans
to meet with the Queens District Attorney this week and ask for all charges to
be dropped against his client.
According to Leandre, at the time of the incident, Jackson was on
a lunch break from youth development courses he has been taking at the YMCA.
‘How could they do this to me? I didn’t do anything wrong,’
Jackson told PIX11.
This was not Jackson's first run-in with the law. The teenager's
record includes at least four prior arrests, including one in 2012 for weapons
possession and another for trespassing, the New York Post reported.
The New York City Police Department would not comment on the
allegations of brutality, only saying that they are aware of the case, which
has been turned over to the Civilian Complaint Review Board.