Lansing Police Officer In Jordan Brunson Incident Placed on Leave

LANSING, IL — The village of Lansing police officer who was shown on video aggressively holding down a 15-year-old boy during an apparent battery investigation while off-duty and on his property last month has been placed on administrative leave after leaders in the far south suburb met with the boy’s family. Lansing Mayor Patricia Eidam has ordered the investigation into the June 24 incident be performed by an outside government agency as to avoid any notion of impropriety, according to a Fox 32 Chicago report.

“At my direction, the officer involved in the incident has been placed on immediate administrative leave,” the mayor said. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Read More: Lawyer Says Jordan Brunson Video Is Another Example Of ‘Excessive Force Against A Black Man’

A video surfaced on Facebook a few days after the alleged incident in Lansing showing Jordan Brunson pinned to the ground, face-up by the police officer on the officer’s front yard. The clip is about a minute long and includes the officer indicating that the boy was trespassing in his yard. “Your friends are being (expletive) idiots,” the officer says to the boy on the ground. “You are trespassing in my (expletive) yard... If you come on my property I'll (expletive) kill you."

The police officer accuses Brunson, and a friend filming the incident, of trespassing on his property. But a police statement made in the days following the incident indicated that the officer was detaining the boy because he tried to leave the property during an ongoing battery investigation.

Both the family member of Brunson’s who first posted the video online and an attorney have referred to the incident as one in which a white police officer has used “excessive force” against a young black man.

Thousands of others agree.

A petition on ThePetitionSite.com has circulated asking the Lansing Police Department to fire the officer. It had 46,239 supporters as of 2:55 p.m. on Wednesday. The petition, which has a goal to reach 50,000 supporters, accuses the officer of “unacceptable” behavior even if he was under the assumption that the two teens were trespassing.

“Regardless of the officer’s belief, the behavior seen in the video is completely unacceptable for an officer,” the petition states. “He clearly uses excessive force to detain the young teen and repeatedly threatens to kill him.”

Photo via Facebook video screenshot