The Alabama NAACP has announced their support for a black teenager who was seriously injured in a police encounter last month.

Police said Ulysses Wilkerson, 17, was walking near a closed business in Troy on December 23, and ran when officers approached him. Officials with the Troy Police Department said Wilkerson reached for his waistband, and officers used physical force to subdue the teen.

"The Alabama NAACP supports the Wilkerson family as they demand the footage from body cameras of Troy police officers who brutality beat their son unconscious," a press release from the state's NAACP chapter said.

Wilkerson's family is seeking answers in what they have called the "brutal beating" of the teen. The State Bureau of Investigation is handling the case, after Troy police Chief Randall Barr requested for the agency conduct an investigation into the officers' use of force in the incident.

"Wilkerson suffered multiple injuries at the hands of police officers, including massive swelling to the brain, massive facial swelling and a cracked eye socket in three places - all while possible in handcuffs," the NAACP release said.

Wilkerson was hospitalized and underwent surgery for his injuries.

"We support the local efforts of the community and the Pike County Branch of the NAACP. Not only do we want answers, but we want police officers to stop killing and brutally attacking our young children just because they can," Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama NAACP, said. "We want police officers to stop using the excuse that they feared for their lives, only to do irreparable harm to our community. It seems that police officers want to know what it feels like to kill or harm a black person. Police can make a choice; they can make a conscious decision and do the right thing if they want to. This has to stop, and we demand it to stop."

He added, "Furthermore, these attacks are no different than terrorist attack on the black community."

According to the release, the NAACP is working with communities and police departments across the country to curb what the group calls "inhumane policing of our communities."

"If we have to rally, then we will rally, if we have to protest, then we will protest, if we have to boycott, then we will boycott and if we have to kneel, then we will kneel," Simelton said.

An official from the SBI in Pike County said due to Wilkerson's age, information about the case will not be released by SBI until the investigation is closed and the case has been presented to the district attorney.