Body camera footage reveals new details in a Fort Myers police encounter with two teens.
A viral video shows a Fort Myers police officer pulling his gun and using a Taser on a Black teenager, sparking public outrage and demands for accountability. But now, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP says body camera footage tells a different — and more complicated — story.
NAACP president James Muwakkil, after reviewing police video of the incident, says the two teens were not just bystanders, but the ones who escalated the confrontation.
"Without a doubt, the young men initiated the confrontation," Muwakkil said.
This incident happened earlier this month in a field off a Fort Myers street. The cellphone video captured the officer drawing his weapon on the teens before stunning one of them. But Muwakkil said the moments leading up to that encounter are crucial and missing from the viral video.
What the body cam shows
According to Muwakkil, the officer was responding to a report of a suspicious man wearing a mask in the area when the teens drove up.
"They were honking their horn at the officer, demanding he move. Then they pulled up beside him and used profanity," he said.
At that point, the officer initiated a traffic stop. Muwakkil says things quickly escalated when the teens refused to follow commands. He said the body cam video showed the teens were disobeying law enforcement.
Eyewitness disputes the narrative
However, not everyone agrees with Muwakkil’s assessment.
Ojavion Thomas, a 16-year-old who says he witnessed the incident, believes the teens did nothing wrong.
"The story's not right," Thomas said. "They're editing it to make it seem like the boys are in the wrong," he insisted.
Thomas also questioned whether the body cam footage shows the full picture.
"Everyone's saying it shows the boys were wrong, but it doesn't show the beginning," he said.
Calls for training, not termination
Despite his findings, Muwakkil isn’t calling for the officer to be fired.
"Both sides were overly hostile. The officer even called them 'boy,'" he said.
Muwakkil believes the incident highlights a need for additional de-escalation training for officers, rather than disciplinary action.
As of now, the officer remains on active duty. Fort Myers police have refused to release the police video to Gulf Coast News.
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