Moment Four Italian Cops Tackle Black Teen To The Ground Because He Was Not Wearing A Face Mask

This is the moment four Italian cops tackle a young black teenager to the ground after allegedly dragging him off his bicycle for not wearing a face mask and for riding on the pavement.

The footage shows them forcing him face down into the concrete and allegedly threatening to rip his head off while a shocked onlooker pleads with the cops, warning them that the situation looked reminiscent of what happened to George Floyd.

The young man, who has not been identified, was allegedly riding on the pavement without a mask, which led to the cops allegedly throwing him off his bike and keeping him restrained on the concrete ground in the Northern Italian city of Padua last Sunday (25th April).

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In the footage, the officers can be seen grabbing the young man and dragging him along the concrete before all four cops force him to the ground, at which point one of them says “I will rip your head off”, according to local media outlet Rassegna Stampa.

Another local media outlet, La Stampa, reports that the young man was riding his bike without a mask on a prohibited walkway when officers ordered him to stop but he failed to heed their instructions and as a result, the officers yanked him off his bike.

The passerby can be heard pleading with the cops saying: “Do you want to kill another?” He goes on: “Let him breathe! Leave him alone, you are killing him!”

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The cops pay little attention to the warnings whilst the young man also starts to plead with them saying: “I’ve done nothing wrong. I have all the paperwork for the bike.”

Diego Bonavina, the local security councillor, told local news outlet La Stampa: “The officers did their duty. The young man was riding his bike without a mask and refused to hand over his documents. He could have been armed and dangerous.”

Arturo Lorenzoni, the spokesperson for the centre-left- wing political party ‘Civic Coalition’ which holds the majority in the Padua municipality, was not satisfied with the councillor’s response and said: “Urgent clarifications are needed with respect to what happened.”

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Lorenzoni added: “We do not share the minimising words of the councillor for security, and we hope that an internal investigation will be launched”.

The young man was reportedly not seriously injured and authorities have not commented on whether an internal investigation is going to be launched. It is unclear if the police fined or charged the teenager with anything.