A Rochester teen and his family are joining forces with a local civil rights group claiming the teen was brutalized by police earlier this month.
17 year old Ricky Bryant and his mother, along with members of the United Christian Leadership Ministry are talking about an incident that happened the night of August 7th, after the Puerto Rican festival.
They say that Bryant was on his bike on Remington Street, when police stopped him, and punched him, injuring his eye. They also say that police fired pepper balls at Bryant and used a Taser.
His lawyer says the owner of a nearby home had called 911 to report someone on the street might have a gun.
Bryant’s mother, Angela Bryant, says that, "despite all of this there are still good cops out there, but these cops that hurt my son they just don't know what they did to me and my son because now I fear for my son every time he walks out my door."
The ministry's president, Reverend Lewis Stewart is calling this a case of racial profiling, and wants better training for all RPD officers.
“They were sworn as law enforcement officers to uphold the law , and yet, they themselves, shamefully, maliciously and egregiously violated that law."
Stewart notes that Ricky Bryant was not charged, and he says police owe the community some answers about what happened. He says he is scheduled to meet Friday with city and police officials to discuss the incident.
Spokespeople for both RPD and City Hall say that because of possible litigation they can't say much right now. RPD says it is conducting an internal investigation and city officials say they have been in touch with the family about their allegations.
