A Chicago police officer was recorded on video punching a teen activist in the face at a demonstration on Friday (July 17), knocking out several of her teeth.
The woman, 18-year-old Miracle Boyd, told BuzzFeed News that she had finished making a speech to protesters in Grant Park when she began recording a Facebook livestream of a confrontation between police and protesters.
“They were beating a White woman with a baton,” recalled Boyd, an activist with GoodKids MadCity, an anti-violence group. “They were macing everyone. I was trying to get footage of the police viciously attacking on people.”
The livestream captured police knocking her phone to the ground. A video from a witness across the street showed her stepping back when the officer punched her.
“I felt that my tooth was gone and I felt like I was going fucking crazy,” said the recent high school graduate. “This happened in like five minutes — from me saying I’m leaving to me getting my teeth knocked out.”
The officer is reportedly under investigation by the police department.
“The Chicago Police Department (CPD) strives to treat all individuals our officers encounter with respect,” the department told BuzzFeed. “We do not tolerate misconduct of any kind and if any wrongdoing is discovered, officers will be held accountable.”
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A GoFundMe was launched to help pay for Boyd to receive “medical, dental, & mental health support.”
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