Police Taser teen ‘for vaping’ in shocking viral video

Police in the US state of Maryland have been widely condemned after they were filmed Tasering a teenager while arresting him for vaping.

Footage of the incident, which occurred in the town of Ocean City, shows 19-year-old Brian Everett Anderson with his hands raised as at least five officers surround him.

Anderson then reaches down to apparently unhook his backpack – which witnesses say was an order from the cops – when he’s suddenly hit in the stomach with a Taser surge.

The teen instantly doubles over and crumples to the floor, as onlookers can be heard crying out in distress while officers tell them to “back off”.

“What is wrong with you?” one man can be heard asking the police, as Anderson is turned over and handcuffed.

“Y’all did that for no reason,” another woman protests. “He was literally standing there.”

Police have defended their actions, saying they caught him vaping after telling him to stop earlier in the night.

They then arrested three other youths after “a large crowd of people began to form around the officers,” the Ocean City authority said in a statement.

Kamere Anthony Day, 19, was arrested for “yelling profanities” and approaching police as he watched the disturbing events unfold, while Jahtique Joseph John Lewis, 18, picked up a police bike and “attempted to strike a Public Safety Aide with it.”

Meanwhile, Khalil Dwayne Warren, 19, was caught standing on private property next to two “no trespassing signs”, and refused to leave when instructed to by the cops, the press release said.

A follow-up clip showed three officers on top of one of the arrested teens, while another showed them hauling one of the young men away in handcuffs.

A woman’s distressed voice can be heard in the background saying: “Are you f***ing serious? For no reason.”

A witness who recorded the now viral footage of the confrontations, captioned the latter clip: “All of this for one person… because of a vape.”

“This s*** needs to be brought to everyone’s attention. Literally HOG TIED him, took his shoes off and took his pants.”

They added that police had ordered Anderson to take his bookbag off: “He wasn’t reaching for anything. He was doing what they said the whole time.”

Three other teens were arrested during the incidenti.corii/Instagram/DrRJKavanagh/Twitter

The Ocean City statement said the fall-out began when officers “observed a large group vaping on the boardwalk,” and informed them of “the local ordinance prohibiting smoking and vaping outside of the designated areas on the Boardwalk.”

“As the group walked away, officers observed the same male start vaping again,” it continued, in reference to Anderson.

It went on: “During the course of the interaction, the male refused to provide his proof of identification and became disorderly.

“A large crowd of people began to form around the officers. The male was later identified as Brian Everett Anderson,19, Harrisburg, PA.

“Officers attempted to place Anderson under arrest for failure to provide necessary identification for the violation of the local ordinance. Anderson began to resist arrest.

“Brian Anderson was charged with disorderly conduct, resist/interfere with arrest, assault second degree, and failure to provide proof of identity.”

At no point did it mention that officers had deployed a Taser in order to restrain him.

However, it added: “We are aware of the social media videos circulating regarding this incident.

“Our officers are permitted to use force, per their training, to overcome exhibited resistance.”

The release also confirmed that Day, John Lewis and Warren had also all been charged on counts including disorderly conduct, restisting/interfering and arrest and, in the case of the former two, second-degree assault.

It ended by stating that “the uses of force from these arrests will go through a multi-level examination by the Assistant Patrol Commander, the Division Commander and then by the Office of Professional Standards.”