In Melbourne, Florida, police tackled 15-year-old Judah Everage during a mistaken-identity arrest near Wickham Park. During the encounter in the Eden Park Drive area in June, the Black teenager ended up with a broken elbow.

Officers were searching for a 16-year-old white teenager who had run away from home, reportedly amid a mental health crisis. According to a report from Channel 3000, the missing boy’s mother had called police for help and said her son needed to be evaluated under Florida’s Baker Act.

A few moments earlier, the bodycam footage shows Everage was helping the mother search for her son as he stood beside her and spoke with responding officers just minutes before he was tackled. The mother had also shown a picture of her son, who had run away wearing black clothing.

In bodycam footage posted by i Expose Racists & Pedos on X, viewers can clearly see that Everage was cooperative from the beginning as he knelt to the ground with his hands raised as an officer approached, cursing and shouting, “Get on the f—ing ground. Get on the ground,” while also threatening to tase him before taking him down. Despite being compliant and bearing little to no resemblance to the teen officers were looking for, officers violently detained Everage and fractured his elbow in the process. 

Even as he cried in pain and told the police officers that his arm had been broken, they refused to show any mercy. After being handcuffed, Everage told the cops, “I know his mom, I was just in the car with her,” referring to the missing teen’s mother.

Once officers realized their mistake, their tone shifted. However, instead of taking responsibility, they tried to blame it on the teenager and his actions. “Why are you running from us?” one of the police officers who participated in the scuffle can be heard saying. 

The Melbourne Police Department later acknowledged its mistake and confirmed the incident remains under internal review.

According to a report by Channel 3000, one of the officers involved, identified as William Markle, has since resigned. However, the remaining officers remain on duty. 

Netizens expressed outrage at the police officers’ lack of empathy and disgraceful conduct. One X user pointed out that the cops clearly lacked a sense of judgment and needed an excuse to harass the teenager: “How can a run away be walking in the police’s direction. The police said “running away from us” whilst the boy was just walking towards them. And he was even still with his arm raised yet you strangle him like some rope. When stupidity wears a uniform & puts on a badge….smh.”

 

Another wrote, “The damn police need to stop hurting the kids they’re arresting. Fire them & press charges for PHYSICAL ABUSE of a CHILD because that is exactly what they’re doing. He’s resisting so badly that you needed 3 cops on him? THEY’RE THE FELON-in- Chief’s (expletive) LICKERS. (expletive) EM ALL.”

A third netizen could see that the attack was racially targeted and hate-driven. “it’s in white “people’s” nature to be evil. It took 3 white cops to take down one Black teen who had nothing to do with the situation. How the (expletive) do you “mistake” him for a white thug? Time and time again, white people in America prove they really are the children of Satan,” the comment read. 

“I hope his parents have a really good attorney. They need to sue each officer individually, the police department and the city and the county take them all down through there and I guarantee you this shit will stop. Let this happen to one of my family members we already have a top-notch attorney on standby,” said another one. 

Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm all facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record and video footage.