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Chicago officer caught on video striking teen, but 16-year-old says brutality was unwarranted

A Chicago police officer was captured on video showed striking a teen with is now being investigated by the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Officers attempted to detain a teen as he waited for a train at a South Loop commuter train station because they believed he matched the description of robbery suspected according to The Chicago Sun-Times.

The teen has been identified as Skyler Miller allegedly threatened the officers by clenching his fists and flailing his arms. Then officers performed a takedown on the teen.

Miller was arrested but later released without being charged because the officers failed to get statements from the victims of the alleged robbery.

Now Miller is speaking out and saying the officers mischaracterized the incident.

“Two officers came up and one threw me against the wall and they tried to put the cuffs on me,” Miller said. “They didn’t tell me why. They didn’t tell me what I was arrested for.”

The video displays an officer striking Miller over the head five times with a closed fist and a pair of handcuffs.

A police spokeswoman has confirmed in a statement that COPA is now investigating the officer caught in the footage.

“This was an incident where an individual was resisting arrest,” the statement said. “A use of force investigation has been opened into the Officers’ actions by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) to establish if policies were violated and CPD will fully cooperate with COPAs investigation.”

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