A special counsel is looking into a video that appears to show a Chicago police officer repeatedly beating a Black teen with a pair of handcuffs, reports The Chicago Sun-Times.
In two separate cell phone videos recorded on November 25, officers are seen arresting a 16-year-old at the Roosevelt Red Line station in the South Loop. Claiming he fit the description of a suspect in a robbery that occurred earlier, authorities said the alleged suspect, Skyler Miller, "clenched his fists and started flailing his arms" when officers approached the young man for questioning.
"They just grabbing me," Miller told Fox46 Charlotte. "They get to beating me. I don't know why they trying to slam me."
"We had a crew of young individuals going around on the Red Line robbing people, and he was identified as a possible suspect with that particular group. So that's why they were approaching him," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement to CBS Chicago.
CBS Chicago also notes that as officers were detaining Miller, his friends repeatedly questioned why authorities were taking him into custody. Officers ignored the prompts.
Ultimately, Miller was released from police custody, and no charges were filed.
This altercation is now being turned over to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA).
In a statement made via email, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department (CPD) said it is fully cooperating with COPA and its investigation.
"This was an incident where an individual was resisting arrest. A use of force investigation has been opened into the Officers actions by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) to establish if policies were violated and CPD will fully cooperate with COPAs investigation," wrote Michael Carroll, CPD representative.
Following the episode, Miller said he is thinking of filing a lawsuit against the CPD.
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