Lakeland Gazette has confirmed charges will be dropped Friday against 16-year-old Jahmal Hudson after a violent altercation with Lakeland police on Memorial Day.
Ten days ago, officers were called to the Carolina apartment complex on a trespassing call. Hudson was attending a pool party when a resident called the cops on him and his friends. Officers arrived when Hudson went to retrieve his shirt from the pool. His mother claims an officer made a derogatory remark about Hudson, who then began arguing with officers.
Video taken at the scene by a bystander shows officers punching Hudson and tasering him. Hudson was later charged with two felonies for violently resisting arrest and another misdemeanor.
Since the video came to light, there’ve been protests, demands to release bodycam footage, and on Thursday, the dropping of all charges against the teen.
“It was just a verbal argument between a grown man and a 16-year-old boy,” Ja’Tae Lewis, Jahmal’s mother said. “Go get the bodycam. Y’all are supposed to have those on. Especially in incidents like this.”
This week the city refused an NAACP request to release officer bodycam footage. We reached out to Lakeland Police for a copy Thursday but they haven’t responded to our request.
Clayton Cowart, founder of the Poor & Minority Justice Association, is advising Lewis.
“We want these officers fired,” Cowart said. “The two officers that beat up this young man unmercifully, they are still here on modified duty.”
An internal police investigation continues but this is now the second time in a month prosecutors have dropped charges against Black men in altercations with Lakeland police.
The other incident in Lakeland involved Antwan Glover, who was beaten during a traffic stop in 2022 and charged with three counts of battery. Charges against Glover were dropped in May.
“The first Saturday of every month, we will be meeting at Lakeland police department for protests until the officers that we are demanding to be removed are fired,” Cowart said.