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Muslim Arab American accuses NJ police of police brutality

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office is investigating alleged police brutality against a Muslim Arab American teenager back in December, NJ.com reports.

Osamah Alsaidi, then 19, said that when he was walking to his car to go to work on Dec. 14, Paterson police officers pulled over in a car to block him.

Officers “came out of the car and started punching me for no reason,” Alsaidi said in an Instagram post. “They kept smashing my head on the ground, causing me to black out for a moment. They arrested me and charged me with aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.”

According to Alsaidi’s Instagram post, he had a concussion and migraines and was partially blind for the next few weeks following the incident. 

The police report said that Alsaidi walked toward the officers “screaming profanities and acting belligerent causing a disturbance,” and began assaulting one of the officers, according to NJ.com. The officers involved in the incident were not wearing body cameras, officials confirmed. A police source said that there are other videos besides the security camera video that corroborate the officers’ report.

Alsaidi’s Instagram post says the police report is false. 

“I was beaten up and arrested for no reason. I was 19 at the time and have no criminal record. I was humiliated and treated like an animal. They tortured me at the police station,” his post reads.

“They clearly made this up for some reason. We don’t know why. But they were clearly the aggressors here. They followed my client in their vehicle. They pulled up to him,” Alsaidi’s attorney Diego Navas said.

Selaedin Maksut, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement, “We call for the officers involved in Osamah Alsaidi’s case to be fired and prosecuted for aggravated assault and official misconduct for falsifying the report.”

The New Jersey Attorney General’s office and the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed Feb. 15 they are investigating Alsaidi’s allegations.

Two other individuals have since come forward accusing officers involved in the Dec. 14 incident of police brutality, according to PIX 11.

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