An African-American teenager and his family filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the City of Austin for what they call unjustified actions by an Austin police officer who tased the teen.
Thursday, the family's lawyer, Jeff Edwards, released a cell phone video shot my the teen's mother, Latasha Alexander.
“I look at a lot of videos, my attorneys look at a lot of videos, this is as bad as it gets," said Edwards.
According to Edwards, Alexander contacted police for a welfare check for her son, who she believed might be in need of a mental health professional.
The lawsuit claims when police arrived, the police officer tased Alexander’s son in the hallway outside of their apartment and "stood over him as he writhed in pain," the lawsuit said.
"While this young man, who was 17 years old, and had done, let me repeat this, had done absolutely nothing wrong was tasered and then crumpled down into a ball, it’s a serious damage," said Edwards.
According to Edwards, the teen was unarmed, with his hands at his sides, and was "standing peacefully" when he was tased in northwest Austin near Avery Ranch. Alexander said her son was not arrested and was not suspected of committing a crime.
"My firm is asked to watch lots of videos showing police misconduct, and this is one of the worst," said Edwards. "This young man did absolutely nothing wrong. Unfortunately, this case is another example of how black and white citizens of Austin are treated radically differently by the police. This officer should have been disciplined immediately."
Edwards said he feels race played into the incident.
“The way that excessive force is evaluated, just so you know, is the moment that the force is utilized, if when the force is used, the young man, or whomever poses a threat to the officer or to someone else, a physical violent threat, then a force like that is justified,” said Edwards.
The City of Austin sent KVUE the following statement in response to the lawsuit:
“We learned of the lawsuit through a media release. Once we have been served, we will review it and take appropriate action to defend the City.”
According to Austin police, a complaint is being reviewed by the officer's chain of command.
This story will update when more information becomes available.