Groups protest arrest of 16-year-old in Lakeland

LAKELAND, Fla. - Multiple groups protested the arrest of a 16-year-old outside the Lakeland Police Headquarters Saturday evening following the surfacing of an unsettling interaction between him and two Lakeland Police officers.

The incident happened at the Caroline Apartments in Lakeland on Memorial Day. Activists from Black Lives Matter Restoration, Inc., the Poor & Minority Justice Association, and The Lion Of Judah Armed Force said 16-year-old Jahmal Hudson Jr. visited the pool at the apartment with friends, one of whom lives in the complex. 

"He encountered an unidentified Caucasian female resident that lived on the property," said Minister Carl M. Soto, Co-founder & Vice President of Black Lives Matter Restoration, Inc. "This woman makes a call to 911 and makes frivolous allegations that these boys were, I guess causing a disturbance."

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A friend of Hudson Junior's recorded part of his interaction with the officers that showed one officer punch and hit the teen multiple times. At one point, one officer is seen grabbing the boy by his hair while the other one tases him.

Saturday evening, more than 100 people from those community groups and Hudson Jr.'s mom protested outside the police station.

Soto said to the crowd, "This is a 16-year-old who was just enjoying his day at a pool with his friends. A day that was supposed to start his summer vacation. All he was doing was what a typical teenager would do, having fun at a pool."

The group called on the Department of Justice to file criminal charges against the officers in addition to the woman who called 911 on the group of boys, believing the incident was racially-charged.

The group handed out flyers, held signs, and planted cardboard headstones on the front lawn of the police station with written messages like "Police the police." Pastor Clayton Cowart of the Poor Minority Justice Association said protests will be held there on the first Saturday of every month until charges are filed.

According to Hudson Jr.'s arrest affidavit, the teen was uncooperative and punched an officer first. 

FOX 13 requested the body cam footage, but at this time it is not being released.