Footage has emerged of a Surry Hills police officer slamming 16-year-old Aboriginal male to the ground

A 16-year-old Aboriginal male sustained injuries after he was slammed to the ground by a Surry Hills police officer.

Footage of the incident was shared by the Facebook page, Justice for Buddy, Lewis Kelly Jnr. The post details that at around 5:30 pm yesterday afternoon, the teenager was with his friends at Eddie Ward Park — less than a hundred metres away from his home when the group were accosted by police.

It is unclear why the police approached the group of teenagers. The video shows a verbal confrontation between the group and the police that seemingly revolves around swearing. The incident escalates after the teenager says “I’ll crack you across the jaw, bro’.

Initially, the officer appeared stunned at the comment, asking “What was that?”. The reaction then turned violent, with the Police Officer swiping the young man’s feet from underneath him, and slamming him face-first into the ground.

The harrowing footage shows the teenager getting pinned down to the floor by an accompanying female officer, whilst the first officer adjusts the handcuffs behind his back. Whilst all this is happening, you can hear the young man wailing in pain, whilst his friend filming the incident protests.

“What the fuck!” the man filming protests. “He’s in pain, bro. He’s in pain.

“You just slammed him on the fucking face.”

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Following his arrest, the young man was taken to a holding cell before being transferred to St Vincent’s Hospital, where he spent the night waiting for x-ray results of his shoulder, knee and elbow. According to the post, the victim “sustained a bruised shoulder, cuts & grazing to his knee, face & elbow & chipped teeth.”

This kind of trigger-happy, violent, unnecessary response is a total abuse of power. This week, a number of country-wide protests will be taking place across Australia, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter marches in the US, and the systemic suffering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders at the hands of police.

There have been 432 Aboriginal deaths in custody since the 1991 royal commission, and not a single conviction. You can find a list of protests below.

Sydney

Stop All Black Deaths in Custody: Vigil for George Floyd

When: 3-5 PM, Saturday, June 6th
Where: 20 Lee St, Chippendale,

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