A distraught Florida mother said she could not recognize her hospitalized son after he was beaten unconscious during an arrest by police in Jacksonville – comparing herself to ‘Emmett Till’s mother’.
Footage shot by a bystander shows an already handcuffed LeKeian Woods being violently thrown to the ground, while one officer appears to aim a kick at him during his arrest after a traffic stop on Friday.
His family claims he was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt, but the 24-year-old was taken to hospital with concussion after being booked into jail with eyes swollen shut, cuts and bruises on his face, and a badly split lip.
His mother compared the violence to the infamous lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till, whose battered remains helped spark the civil rights movement when they were displayed in an open casket at his Mississippi funeral in 1955.
‘When I looked at that picture of my son I felt like Emmett Till’s mother when she saw her son and he was unrecognizable,’ Natassia Woods told reporters.
‘That how felt when I seen my son.’
LeKeian Woods was barely conscious by the time he was booked into jail with eyes swollen shut, cuts and bruises on his face, and a badly split lip after his arrest on Friday
The 24-year-old was later taken to hospital to be treated for concussion
Le’Keian Woods faces charges including trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine while armed, as well as violently resisting arrest
Police arrested her son on charges including trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine while armed, as well as violently resisting an officer.
And they insisted that police bodycam footage will add context to the video and photos when they choose to release it.
‘Every allegation of misconduct or excessive force, every single one, is taken seriously,’ Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters said.
‘We will review the body cams and eventually, you will see the body cams and you’re going to see contextual information start to finish.
‘You won’t see a clip of a video that loops over and over again, you will see the video in context but we have to have a full and complete investigation.’
The family told First Coast News that Woods, his uncle, and his friend were pulled over for not wearing their seatbelts as they were on their way to Woods’ grandmother’s house.
Woods’ mother said her son was so badly beaten he was unable to explain what had happened when they spoke after his arrest.
‘When he called me from the jail, he said, ‘Mama, what happened to me?’ She added.
His horrified mother Natassia Woods said he could not recognize her son behind his injuries
At last five officers were involved in the arrest with one appearing to aim a kick at their captive
Woods was already handcuffed when he was body-slammed into the ground
The video does not show what happened in the moments leading up to the arrest
Civil rights lawyer Harry Daniels has been hired by the family and says Woods is lucky to be still alive
‘He didn’t even know he got beat like that. He didn’t even know that stuff had happened to him. He did not know that he had got beaten that bad.’
The footage has sparked angry protests in the town and calls for closure of the police department’s gang unit.
Jacksonville Jaguars players, coaches, and staff members were among those who marched from their stadium to the steps of the sheriff’s office to protest against police brutality three years ago at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.
It is not known whether the arresting officers were members of the gang unit, and the footage does not show events leading up to Woods’ arrest.
But criminal defense attorney Dale Carson said the video shows police continuing to attack Woods after he has been restrained.
‘After he is handcuffed properly, then it’s over,’ the former FBI agent told Action News Jax.
‘The fight should be over, the resistance should be over, and if you continue to force compliance by actually hurting the individual to assure compliance by slamming into the ground or something of that nature, that’s not in the training manual.’
During a rally on Sunday afternoon, Woods’ mother told the crowd that her son has further hospital appointments for concussion.
‘I’m at a point now that I just want answers for my son,’ he added.
Protesters outside the sheriff’s office have demanded the suspension of the officers involved
Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters said the incident was under investigation and that police bodycam footage will add ‘context’ when they decide to release it
‘I want justice for my son. No one should be beaten like that.’
The family has now hired civil rights attorney Harry Daniels who called for the officers involved to be suspended.
‘If this video of the officers repeatedly assaulting Le’Keian, slamming his head into the ground and tossing him around like a ragdoll while he’s handcuffed and defenseless isn’t enough to convince you that these officers need to be off the street, just look at Le’Keian’s face,’ he said in a statement.
‘He looks like he just went 12 rounds with a professional boxer. He’s lucky to be alive.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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