Members of the Boynton Beach Police Department were caught on cell-phone video using excessive force on two seventh-graders they pulled off a school bus for bad behavior.
The two videos, uploaded to LiveLeak.com, show one officer putting one of the students in a chokehold and another officer kicking the other student in the back of the leg, causing him to fall to the ground.
According to WPBF, a bus driver pulled over her bus after the two students apparently broke bus rules. She then called police.
One of the boys, Kevens Jean Baptiste, claims that one of the rules includes not being allowed to lower a window. But, he says, his asthma was acting up, so he opened a window.
That's when the driver pulled over and called police.
The cops then removed Jean Baptiste and another boy from the bus and placed them in cuffs.
"They said don't speak when I was spoken to. And the lady spoke to me, said be quiet. And he slammed me. Simple as that," Jean Baptiste told WPBF.
The officers took Jean Baptiste to school.
However, the entire incident was recorded by another student on the bus, Terrence Denson.
Denson says he decided to record the incident when he noticed the officers were being rough on the boys.
BBPD Public Information Officer Stephanie Slater tells New Times that there is an ongoing internal investigation.
BBPD also released a statement to the media saying they are investigating the incident and that one of the officers has been placed on administrative duty:
"We are investigating the circumstances surrounding this situation and have placed one of the officers on administrative duty. We are concerned as to the initial appearance of the video, and despite the fact that we have received no formal complaints at this time, we are committed to reviewing the situation in its entirety and taking whatever action is deemed most appropriate at the conclusion of our investigation."
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