A Florida state trooper has come under investigation this week after using his taser on a Black teenager.
According to USA Today, CCTV security footage has shown 16-year-old Jack Rodeman, of Fort Myers, Pasco County, was tasered in the backyard of his girlfriend's San Carlos Park home by Highway Patrol trooper George Smyrnios.
The incident in question occurred on Wednesday, June 16, after Smyrnios spotted the biracial teenage boy loitering outside his partner's house while the trooper was parked in his marked Dodge ChargerFHP patrol unit.
Claiming that the teen's body language was "suspicious", Smyrnios pursued Rodeman and held him up with his taser, believing him to be a possible burglar.
Rodeman refused to obey Smyrnios' repeated requests for him to halt and put his hands behind his back, which led to the trooper shooting the boy with his taser.
After he dropped to the floor in pain, Smyrnios ordered Rodeman to put his hands behind his back again. Rodeman refused, which led to Smyrnios shocking him another time while he was incapacitated on the patio.
Per the above publication, Rodeman was then arrested by Smyrnios and charged with failure to obey a police officer as well as marijuana possession and obstruction without violence.
In a later interview with NCB News, Rodeman's outraged mother Kristina stated: "He was profiled because he is Black in black clothes. There is no doubt in my mind.
"He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He literally was just walking down the street going to his girlfriend’s."
Per NBC, Smyrnios later wrote in his probable cause report: "I saw the defendant (a suspicious person) dressed in black pants, black sweater/hoodie, and black tennis shoes."
"His behavior, demeanor, and body language appeared to be a burglar. It looked to me like he had just committed a crime or was about to commit a crime."
Smyrnios added: "The red dots were placed on his back and I deployed the Taser. The probes struck his upper, right shoulder and upper, right buttock.
"The defendant fell to the ground. I told him to place his hands behind his back. He failed to comply so I activated the Taser again."