Two cops wrestle black college freshman after ‘nervous’ woman he held door for called police

Protests erupted in Washington DC this week after a shocking cellphone video emerged on social media showing what appears to be white police officers pinning a black teenage boy to the ground and handcuffing him.

Jason Goolsby, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of the District of Columbia, claims he was harassed and assaulted by the officers while walking home from the bank Monday evening.

Goolsby says he was at a Capitol Hill bank at around 6.15pm thinking about whether he needed to use the ATM when a white woman pushing a baby stroller approached and he held the door open for her.

He stayed by the entrance about 20 seconds and then turned to leave in the company of two friends, at which point the teens saw a police cruiser following them, reported the Washington Post. 

The college freshman said the vehicle sped up and nearly struck him, prompting him to break into a sprint, with an officer chasing him on foot. The cop eventually caught up with the teen and slammed him to the ground.

A friend using the Twitter handle @darealbighomiee filmed Goolsby being detained and posted it online. As of Thursday afternoon, the disturbing 30-second clip has been shared 28,000 times.

The cell phone recording shows officers twisting Goolsby’s left arm behind his back as he lies face down on the pavement and screams, ‘I’m not resisting!’

Police said in a statement that officers were responding to a 911 call reporting suspicious people who may be trying to rob someone at the Citibank ATM located at 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

The call was reportedly made by the woman with the stroller for whom Goolsby had held the bank door open. She told police the teenager and his friends made her feel ‘uncomfortable.’

‘One individual fled on foot from the police, was chased, and then taken down,’ a police statement said. ‘The individual resisted, and was handcuffed while resisting after he refused to stop.’

‘The person making the video was interfering with police, and was also detained while the incident was investigated.’

The responding officers eventually determined no crime was committed and the 18-year-old was released without a charge. No one was arrested in connection to the incident.

According to his Facebook profile, Goolsby is a graduate of Richard Wright Public Charter School and an aspiring rapper.

The video of his run-in with police went viral Tuesday, prompting Goolsby’s supporters to begin posting messages with the hashtag #JusticeForJason.

Also on Tuesday, activists with the Black Lives Matter movement staged a protest, blocking parts of Pennsylvania Avenue on Capitol Hill while chanting ‘justice for Jason’ and ‘shut it down.’

Erica Totten, a Black Lives Matter activist and Goolsby’s former teacher, called the 18-year-old music major ‘one of the sweetest kids I’ve had the honor of teaching.’

During Tuesday’s protest, Totten summed up the interaction at the bank thus: ‘white fear of a black boy caused that.’

Dc police said the department is ‘reviewing the circumstances surrounding the stop to ensure that policies and procedures were followed.’

Source: The DailyMail