JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The mother of a teenage boy who was punched and taken to the ground by a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officer during an arrest at a McDonald’s said her son did not deserve the force used and had nothing to do with the large “teen takeover” that drew police to Blue Cypress Park last week.
The incident happened at a McDonald’s on Fort Caroline Road, where video shows a teen seated and talking with an officer before the officer strikes him in the face and forces him to the ground. The teen was later arrested on a charge of resisting arrest, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
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The boy’s mother, Ja’Ree Butler, recorded cellphone video moments after the encounter, confronting the officer about what happened to her son.
“My son is a minor! And you punched him!” Butler can be heard saying in the video. The officer responds, “Yes, I did.”
Butler said she is still trying to process what happened.
“I got the call from my son’s friends that he was me, first he got punched in the face and he got arrested, I was devastated, heartbroken because, like, I know my son. I know he didn’t deserve that,” Butler said. “He’s very respectful, very well mannered, non-confrontational.”
In a JSO incident report, police described the teen as a suspect and “ringleader” among a group of teenagers and said officers saw him directing part of a crowd to cross the roadway near University Boulevard and Fort Caroline Road without using a crosswalk. Police said he later entered the McDonald’s.
Butler disputes that account, saying her son was at the park with friends and walked to the McDonald’s, but was not involved in the takeover.
“He had nothing to do with the teen takeover,” Butler said.
According to the report, officers asked the teen for identification and told him to stand up three times. JSO says he refused to comply and resisted, prompting the officer to deliver one closed-fist strike and then perform a takedown to detain him.
The Sheriff’s Office said it reviewed cellphone video and body-worn camera footage and found no policy violations.
“Cell phone video and body-worn camera footage of this incident have been reviewed, and it was determined that there are no policy violations regarding use of force,” JSO said in a statement.
Butler said she approached the officer seeking an explanation and believes the department’s conclusion is wrong.
“I really didn’t understand why, you know, that my son got punched in the face,” she said. “So that’s why I approached the officer just to understand, like, why that happened, why he decided to use that type of force against him. You know, I still need answers.”
Butler said the encounter has taken an emotional toll on both her and her son, and she chose to document her exchange with police through a Facebook live video to preserve what she says occurred.
“I didn’t want my side and my son’s side to be twisted in any of this,” Butler said. “So, the only way that I would show proof that, hey, this is what happened, this is what was said, was to make sure that I documented it.”
The arrest came days after officers shut down a teen takeover at Blue Cypress Park that JSO said involved more than 200 teens. Three girls, ages 12 and 13, were arrested last Wednesday in connection with that incident, according to police.