20-year-old Ronald Weekly Jr. claims he was brutally beaten by police on August 18. Weekly Jr. is a pre-med student at Xavier University and was spending summer break at his Los Angeles home. LAPD spokesperson, Sgt. Frank Preciado reported that Weekly Jr. was approached by cops because he was riding his skateboard on the wrong side of the street. Preciado claims Weekly Jr. walked away from the officers while they were speaking to him and resisted arrest when the officers tried to detain him.
Weekly Jr. claims that he did not resist and was never told why he was being arrested. “They grabbed my hair, they grabbed my shoulders and they grabbed my back,” Weekley said. “They didn’t tell me anything. They didn’t tell me why I was being arrested. The first thing they tried to do was pound my face into the sidewalk,” he told thegrio.com. Weekly Jr. also claimed the officers mocked him and did not offer him treatment for his injuries after he was taken into custody.Weekley’s father, Ronald Sr., told theGrio he arrived at the scene after his son was in custody, and was prevented from talking to him by the officers.
Weekly’s surrounding community has protested the incident and the family has held a press conference. “We pride ourselves on having a great relationship with all the members of the community. We’re not in a position where we Monday morning quarterback this situation. We don’t know what transpired prior to Mr. Weekly being struck. This wasn’t a typical misdemeanor. That’s why he was booked for felony resisting with force,” said Precaido in response to community dissent with LAPD.
Cell phone footage following the incident is below.