Minneapolis, MN — A video has gone viral of a white police officer caught on a cell phone camera threatening to break the leg of a Somali teenager. Hamza Jeylani, who is 17 years old, said he feels he was racially profiled.
Jeylani, who was with three other teen friends, said he made a legal u-turn, but was pulled over anyways by the police department. Then the verbal abuse began.
In the video, Officer Rod Webber can be heard saying, “Plain and simple, if you f___ with me, I’m going to break your leg before you get the chance to run. I’m being honest, I don’t screw around.”
Jeylani is then heard saying, “I never said I was going to run.”
Then Webber replies, “I’m just giving you a heads up. Just trying to be officer friendly right now.”
“Can you tell me why I’m being arrested?” Jeylani then asks.
“Because I feel like arresting you,” Webber responds.
It turns out that they were being pulled over because the police suspected that their vehicle was stolen. All four teens were placed in handcuffs and waited close to an hour as police searched the car and did background checks on the boys. After nothing was found, they were eventually let go.
Watch the video below: