Group wants officer charged for punching teen

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WAUWATOSA, Wis. (AP) — A community organization is calling for a Wisconsin police officer to be fired and charged after a video surfaced showing a white officer punching a black teenager in the face outside a mall during an arrest.

The video that a passer-by recorded shows a Wauwatosa officer punching a 17-year-old boy Friday during an incident in which security at a mall in Wauwatosa had called authorities about a group of males causing a disturbance, WISN-TV and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

“I wanted to help, but then I didn’t want to get myself in no trouble as well,” Tyrone Jackson, the man who shot the video, told WISN-TV. He added that he thinks the officer could have used “better force” than punching the teen.

The Original Black Panthers of Milwaukee is demanding that the officer resign or be fired, and calling on prosecutors to charge the officer. The group also wants Wauwatosa police officers to undergo diversity training and is urging shoppers to boycott the mall, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Group leader King Rick led a protest of about eight Black Panthers on Saturday at the Wauwatosa Police Department and Mayfair mall. He said in a Facebook video that racial profiling has been occurring at the mall “far too often.”

“Those dynamics have to change and we’re here to demand that they change,” he said.

Wauwatosa police said in a Friday statement that the video of the police incident shows only a small segment of the interaction between the “suspect and the officer.” Police said the teen started fighting with the officer. The juvenile was cited for battery, disorderly conduct and resisting an officer.

Police Chief Barry Weber said in the statement that the department takes all instances of use of force seriously and thoroughly reviews all such incidents.