From Daily Mail
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Video shows Genele Laird, 18, being arrested outside Madison mall
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She struggles with officers who then wrestle her to ground and kick her
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Laird had been threatening a Taco Bell employee with a knife before arrest
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She will not face criminal charges, placed on restorative justice program
A shocking video of two Wisconsin police officers body slamming an 18-year-old girl to the ground, kicking and punching her and then tasering her while she screams in agony has provoked angry protests
The video filmed at a mall in Madison last week shows the two unnamed officers holding Genele Laird’s hands behind her back after detaining her at a mall where she was allegedly threatening employees.
Officers then begin to wrestle her to the ground and kick her while doing so, before pinning her to the ground and tasering her several times.Miss Laird screams out as she is tasered while the two officers continue to hold her to the ground at East Towne Mall.
Although officers claim Miss Laird was resisting arrest and had a knife in her purse, the seemingly excessive force used in the arrest has provoked an angry reaction in her community.
A protest was held by the African-American community in front of the Dane County Public Safety Building last Wednesday afternoon.
Tutankhamun Assad, head of the Mellowhood Foundation told WKOW: ‘The feeling I get everyday when I see one of ours treated like a terrorist, each and everyday, a young black woman with a knee in her back, called every sort of name – I can’t take it anymore.’But police say the video does not show the complete story and that Laird was arrested after she went into mall food court claiming to retrieve a phone from a Taco Bell employee and then began making threats.
Following the arrest she was taken into Dane County Jail where was held for three days.
Read Full Story At Daily Mail
