In America, we continue to see Black people get punished by law enforcement for no reason, all while simply just minding their business. This was the case regarding 16-year-old Jack Rodeman, down in Ft. Myers, FL, on June 16, according to WINK.
According to the report, Rodeman was racially profiled by a state trooper named George Smyrnios in an “upscale neighborhood.” Smyrnios described Rodeman as “suspicious” in his police report. Rodeman was outside of his girlfriend’s home, as he was texting her to come outside. From that point, Smyrnios tased Rodeman, without having any evidence of being suspicious. Rodeman’s girlfriend even said that Rodeman was doing nothing wrong.
Rodeman ended up being hit with charges of loitering, possession of medical marijuana and a criminal traffic violation. That also resulted in him being placed in a juvenile detention center for three weeks. At the time of the incident, Rodeman was slammed by the trooper into a brick fountain.
Smyrnios also claimed that Rodeman tried to escape and that he supposedly wasn’t “complying.” He also tried to make the excuse that Rodeman was armed. Rodeman’s mother has since hired Derek Tyler as an attorney and cited how her son was being racially profiled.
“He is going to have to be x-rayed and looked at for any vertebral fractures without a doubt,” said Tyler. “We are going to vigorously defend all of the charges and we are also going to vigorously pursue every legal avenue available regarding the unmitigated, unjustified torture that he was subjected to by the officer involved.”
Flip the page for footage of the horrific incident as well as Twitter reactions.
