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Ocean City: Black man, 18, kneed and tasered by cops for 'vaping'

A video from Ocean City, Maryland, surfaced on social media which shows police officers kneeing an 18-year-old Black man for vaping in a restricted area

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND: A shocking video from Ocean City, Maryland, has surfaced on social media which shows police officers kneeing an 18-year-old Black man, after tasering him. The encounter reportedly happened after the teenager and his group was spotted vaping in a restricted area. The video of the disturbing incident was filmed by eyewitnesses and later uploaded on Instagram by a user named i.corii.  

The video shows the man showing his hands up as several police officials surrounded him. He was suddenly tasered by an official, making him fall at the base of a staircase with hands on his abdomen. As the crowd around can be heard screaming, the police ordered everyone to "back up" while tending to him. The incident happened at a time after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for the murder of George Floyd after he knelt down on his neck for nine minutes.

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In a subsequent video, police personnel can be seen crouching down on the alleged perpetrator as they appear to be kneeing him with force. Another following video showed the police escorting him away from the scene. While the man was being repeatedly kneed, an officer reportedly delved blows that landed on the side of his body. 

According to WMAR2 News, the incident took place on the boardwalk when a group of young men was found vaping in a prohibited area. While others walked away, one of them reportedly started vaping again. The police later informed that he refused to provide his ID. He also reportedly became disorderly and resisted his arrest. Meanwhile, police charged three other men for interfering with the arrest. All the four who were charged are between 18 and 19 years of age, and hail from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. All of them were later released by the court commissioner. 

A spokesperson with the Ocean City Police Department has assured that the use of force as seen in the video would be subjected to a multi-level examination. The video went viral on social media shortly. Advocate and law professor Sherrilyn Ifill voiced her protest urging Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and Representative Andy Harris to investigate the incident and take appropriate action. 

"WARNING GRAPHIC & VIOLENT. Attorney General @BrianFrosh can you please investigate these multiple incidents involving police and unarmed Black teens in Ocean City, MD? @RepAndyHarrisMD is this your district??" she tweeted while sharing the video. Another user tweeted, "The police behavior is inexplicable. Murder is on the rise but they needed a platoon to abuse a child. Vacationers avoid Ocean City, MD." A third user also condemned the police saying, "VAPING??? When the hell did that become punishable by brute force??? Oh, wait… let me check his skin color…"

Another user shared a video of the entire incident from a different angle which showed the commotion around while the police encountered the four men. The user tweeted, "tw: police violence against black people this video was sent to me by a woman named lauryn (insta @/lodogray) of four young men being arrested and abused by police in ocean city, maryland over a vape. please read this. and especially like, share, and rt if you can."