South Florida Cops Filmed Repeatedly Punching 14-Year-Old Black Girl

There is virtually no reason for a group of large adult male cops to pin a 14-year-old girl to the ground and continually punch her in the ribs and kidneys. Yet after Coral Springs Police officers were filmed doing exactly that to a teen outside the Coral Square Mall yesterday, the police department is now trying to defend itself and callously throwing the teen under the bus for somehow provoking the beating.

The footage is difficult to watch:

OUTRAGEOUS!

This is a Coral Springs police officer repeatedly punching a 14-YEAR-OLD BLACK GIRL.

This is WHY WE KNEEL!!

RETWEET THIS! pic.twitter.com/k8IdfAabai

— StanceGrounded (@_SJPeace_) October 19, 2018

"Why are you hitting her?" an onlooker screams at the cops. "Her hand's underneath her!"

But the only thing that might be more infuriating than the video itself is the response so far from CSPD. The department today issued a callous, multiparagraph statement titled "Rumor Control" that effectively blamed the girl for provoking the attack from the cops.

pic.twitter.com/vN9fynbqqp

— Coral Springs Police (@CoralSpringsPD) October 19, 2018

According to CSPD, mall cops called some real cops to the shopping center to deal with some "unruly teens" who had been allegedly "harassing patrons and causing a disturbance." The officers claim that one of the teens shoved a 5-year-old child to the ground and that another teen had hit someone else. The mall guards wanted the teens to be given a warning for trespassing.

Then, the police department claims, the teen refused to leave the mall and began cursing at one of the cops. The officers — who, again, are large adult men — say that due to the 14-year-old girl's "stature and aggressive behavior," they had to pin her to the ground and, for some reason, punch her to get her to release her fists.

According to WSVN, the teen's family has hired an attorney, who asserts the incident shows excessive force by the officers involved.

“It’s clear from the video that my client was on the ground," lawyer Meeghan Moldof told the TV station. "Her hands are on her belly, the officer’s knees are on her back, and he’s just gut-shotting her, like one after another."