LA Policeman Suspended for Beating Up Teenager

The white Los Angeles police officer caught on video punching a disabled black teenager in the face is alleged to have taken part in the beating of another black man who subsequently spent five days on a life support machine last month.

Local politicians and senior police officers have reacted speedily to try to stop the beating of 16-year-old Donovan Jackson last Saturday from turning into another Rodney King incident in Los Angeles.

The amateur videotape of the incident has already prompted four separate investigations and the suspension of the policeman concerned.

The district attorney is now investigating whether Inglewood police officer Jeremy Morse committed an offence when he hoisted Donovan off his feet and slammed his face into the car bonnet. The teenager, who was handcuffed, suffers from hearing, speech and learning difficulties.

Meanwhile, Neilson Williams, 32, claims he was seriously injured in a beating involving Mr Morse on June 23. Mr Williams had already filed a complaint but said that it was not being taken seriously until the video of the Jackson beating emerged.

The Jackson incident started at a petrol station in Inglewood when two sheriff's deputies approached Donovan's father after noticing that the numberplates on his car had expired.

At the time, Donovan was paying for petrol and buying a snack. As he returned to the car, the he was told by police to drop the crisps he was eating and put his hands on the car. According to police, he objected and there was a struggle.

A young white DJ staying at a nearby hotel ran outside with his video camera after hearing screams. What he filmed has now been broadcast countless times on local television.

It shows Mr Morse lifting Donovan, bouncing him face-first on the car and then punching him in the face. At least three other officers can be seen, one apparently pulling at Mr Morse's arm after the blow. An angry Mr Morse, who was suspended on pay, can be seen to be bleeding from a cut on his face.

Donovan was booked on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, and later released.

Yesterday the Inglewood mayor, Roosevelt Dorn, called the Jackson footage disturbing but said that the incident differed from that of Rodney King in that only one police man was involved in the beating. "One officer is not going to destroy this city," he said.

But Najee Ali, of the local organisation Project Islamic Hope, said: "We want this police officer fired and prosecuted. This is another Rodney King beating. It's not a matter of race, it's a matter of police culture."

The four separate investigations under way are being conducted by Inglewood police, the Los Angeles sheriff's department, the district attorney and the FBI.

Police have taken a markedly more active approach than they did when Rodney King was beaten up in 1991, an incident also caught on video. The acquittal the following year of the police officers involved provoked the Los Angeles riots of 1992 in which 55 people died.

A lawyer has launched a civil action against the police on behalf of the Jackson family.