The viral video of a fourteen year old, Elijah Tufono, getting pinned and punched by an officer has reached many advocates who have stood up for police brutality. The teenager spoke to a local news station stating he was holding tobacco purchased from a stranger when the officer approached him. The teenager was scared and lied about what he was holding. He later handed the item to the officer and the man became confrontational trying to put him in handcuffs.
I did lie to him and I didn’t cooperate, and I know that and I made that mistake. But that didn’t give him no right to do what he did...So when he did that(trying to handcuff him), I pulled my right hand back and that’s when he started getting aggressive and trying to fight
The teen said he forgives the officer despite what happened.
Sir, I’m sorry for the way that I acted towards you and for not cooperating. And I just hope that we could meet again and be on better terms
An internal affairs investigation is now open, which can take months. The officer has been temporarily reassigned to another area outside Rancho Cordova.
Chief of police at Rancho Cordova sent out a message through YouTube about the incident.
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