Protestors Demand Arrest of LPD Officers Who Punched, Tased 16-Year-Old (2024)

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About 100 protestors gathered in front of Lakeland Police Department headquarters Saturday evening to demand that two officers seen punching and tasing a Black teenager in a widely shared bystander video be arrested and that Police Chief Sam Taylor resign.

What were they protesting? The speakers were angry that two Lakeland Police officers — Christopher McKee and Jose Diaz-Acosta — repeatedly punched, pulled the hair of and tased 16-year-old Jahmal Hudson during a videotaped arrest. The video also shows Hudson fighting back against the officers.

What happened? The incident began when Hudson and three friends met a resident of The Caroline Apartments to swim in the complex’s pool on Memorial Day. One of the teens posted to social media that they had been playing volleyball and relaxing, but also admittedly using profanity in the pool.

A woman arrived with her children and asked the group to tone down their language.LPD Chief Sam Taylor said the teens cursed at her, so she called 9-1-1. The arrest affidavit says an apartment manager asked arriving officers to trespass the teens from the pool.

McKee wrote in the affidavit that Hudson repeatedly refused to cooperate, would not give his name or address and said he didn’t have to talk to McKee.

A social media post said the 6-foot-1, 347-pound teenager was gathering his belongings but became angry and defiant when McKee told him he should go to the gym instead of the pool.

The incident escalated when McKee, who had repeatedly told Hudson to leave, moved to arrest him.

See LkldNow’s full story and the video here.

Family reaction: “He can never forget it. He will never forget it,” Hudson’s 75-year-old uncle, Johnny Davis, told the crowd.

Then he addressed Hudson, who was not in attendance.

“I just hope he don’t grow up to be a police hater,” Davis said. “I hope he don’t grow up to be a police killer. I hope he don’t grow up to be a murderer, or an angry man. But if you get the hell beat out of you, ain’t no telling what you might grow up to be.”

Davis alleged a pattern of discrimination by police against Lakeland’s Black community.

“If that had been one of our boys beating on one of their children, they would’ve blown his cotton-pickin’ brains out in the streets of Lakeland,” he said. “But they can beat the hell out of us and go back with their buddies and laugh and joke about it, make fun about it.”

Hudson’s mother, Ja’Tae Lewis, told LkldNow that seeing community members support her son meant a lot to her.

“He’s recovering,” she said. “He’s troubled by it.”

Lawmaker: State Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa, attended Saturday’s protest and vowed to make sure police are held accountable.

“They cannot be the protector of us and beat us,” Hart said.

Organizers: Rev. Clayton Cowart of the Poor And Minority Justice Association, and Carlos Sotos of Black Lives Matter Restoration Polk organized Saturday’s event. The men have fought for the Civil Rights of several local Black men and women who have been arrested.

Sotos said protesters will be back the first Saturday of every month to protest the Lakeland Police Department, saying the department is full of racists.

“We will not tolerate this no more,” Sotos said. “We’re going to demand transparency. We’re going to demand the arrest of every officer involved. Now it’s been brought to our attention that these officers may have been sent to modified duty or paid administrative leave — and all that is just a paid vacation. We want them in the jail cell. That’s where they belong.”

What’s next? Taylor has ordered an administrative review of the incident. A police department spokeswoman said LPD will not release the body camera footage of the arrest, nor the 9-1-1 call made by the unidentified woman, who is a resident of the Caroline Apartments, until the review is complete. An apartment manager on Friday afternoon declined to comment or confirm any details about what happened.

Organizers are calling on residents to contact City Manager Shawn Sherrouse to ask him to rid the police department of racist officers.

NAACP Lakeland Branch President Terry Coney told LkldNow on Thursday that he had already been in talks with Lakeland Police about hosting an event to teach area teenagers how to interact with police. Coney did not attend the protest.

Taylor could not be reached Saturday evening about the protestors’ demands.

Slideshow: See photos of the protest