05 March 2024 , 15:45
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A video showing two police officers wrestling a 13-year-old boy to the ground for using a vape has shocked Australia.
The teen was standing with his mother and another boy outside a shopping centre in Deniliquin in New South Wales on February 27. Two cops are seen approaching the boy, telling him to hand over his vape while threatening they would have to "use force" if he didn't.
When he refused, the two officers suddenly grab him and a scuffle breaks out. The policemen then spin him around as his mum and the other boy yell at them, begging them to stop.
The other boy is heard saying: "He's 13-years-old and you're using force! Thirteen, you weak maggots! Weak little dogs, can't even drop a 13-year-old!"
The woman is also heard shouting "let him go" repeatedly. She also accuses the men of trying to break his arm. Shockingly, one of the policemen gets the boy in a choke hold before hurling him to the ground. As the clip ends, one of the officers is seen kneeling over him and pinning him down as the youngster tries to escape his grip.
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The officers approached the boy after receviing complaints of a teen vaping inside a shopping centre (BradK87287/Twitter)
After a scuffle, the two burly officers wrestled the boy to the ground (BradK87287/Twitter)It's currently unknown when the arrest was filmed but the clip was shared on Monday, with social media users outraged over the excessive use of force.
In a statement, an NSW Police spokesman said the force was responding to reports from store staff of a teen vaping inside the mall.
"When the boy refused and started to walk away, police stopped the teenager, who then threatened to assault police," he said. "Police requested the identity of the boy which was refused. He was arrested and taken to Deniliquin Police Station to confirm his identity, before being released without charge and will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act. The use of force during the arrest is being reviewed."
The state currently outlaws the buying or owning of a nicotine vape without a doctor's prescription. Under 18s can't buy vapes at all, regardless of whether they have nicotine in them or not.
Director of Legalise Vaping Australia Brian Marlow is pusing for vapes to be legalised, and regulated after the federal government cracked down on the smoking replacement in January.
"We have been saying for years that unless you do something, youth vaping was going to skyrocket and of course it has skyrocketed," he told Daily Mail Australia. Because the only people who are selling these products are crime syndicates and criminals happy to sell to kids."