LAKELAND, Fla. — Charges have officially been dropped against a Lakeland teenager who got into a Memorial Day fight with two Lakeland Police officers.
The incident, caught on camera, raised concerns in the community and allegations of police brutality. Jahmal Hudson was in juvenile court Friday after the Polk State Attorney’s office had issued a “no bill” order Wednesday. On Thursday, Hudson’s family was notified.
The news was a huge relief for the soft-spoken 16-year-old, who said it was, “Good - that I can go places now. And not be stuck in the house for no reason for something I didn't do.”
“They just called me yesterday and let me know that the state had dropped all the charges against Jahmal,” said his mother, Ja’Tae Lewis.
Lewis stood outside the court firmly grasping the no-bill order. She too was relieved there would be no charges against her son.
Hudson was involved in a violent confrontation with two Lakeland Police officers on Memorial Day. He was at a pool party with friends when they were told they were trespassing. Jahmal went to retrieve some of his personal items and said that's when the incident occurred.
It was upsetting, he said, “because I didn't do nothing to get hit.”
The video shows two Lakeland police officers punching Jahmal, pulling his hair, and then tasing him before knocking him to the ground - even as his friends are shouting to police that he's a juvenile.
The incident led to a weekend protest in front of the Lakeland Police Department. The local NAACP branch has appealed to the city council to order the release of any police body cam video that may exist.
“I would never have thought in a million years that this would happen to my son. Any of my children,” Lewis said.
Jahmal and his mother say they feel vindicated by the state attorney's office decision, but as far as they're concerned, it doesn't end here.
“We haven't seen justice yet,” Lewis said. “Holding both of those police officers accountable. And hopefully, the other police officers that were giving me a hard time as well.”
Hudson has been under house arrest since his last court hearing a little over a week ago. The first thing he did when he knew he was allowed to venture out again was to "go to my grandma," he said.
Community leaders also say that while charges against Hudson have been dropped, they intend to continue protesting. The incident is what they consider part of an ongoing pattern of behavior at the police department – where several reports of police brutality have been leveled over the past two years.
“Lakeland has a problem," said Pastor Clayton Cowart with the Poor Minority Justice Association. “If you can see it, and I can see it and others can see it, I wonder why the Lakeland Police Department just can't get a grip that there's a problem here. There's a serious problem.”
The Lakeland Police Department said Chief Sam Taylor ordered an administrative review of the incident by the department’s Office of Professional Standards.