A NSW police office has been charged with assault after arresting an Indigenous teenager in Sydney last year.
In a release, NSW police media said that officers from Professional Standards Command had been investigating an alleged assault following the arrest of a teenager in Surry Hills' Ward Park in June 2020.
In a statement on NSW Aboriginal Legal Service's website, a spokesperson for the family said they were happy the charges had been laid.
"We as a family cry and share the grief and pain of the families who have had the lives of their young Black sons and daughters taken away from them violently by police and custodial authorities," read the statement.
“Aboriginal people across Australia have been unfairly treated, racially vilified, and systematically oppressed since 1788.
“We look forward to the law being applied with fairness and justice.”
Video footage of the incident went viral and caused outrage in the community, already tense following the arrest and death of George Floyd only a week before.
In the video, officers can be seen speaking with several teenagers. After an alleged threat made by one of the young people, the officer in question sweeps the legs from under the teen and knocks him face-first into the ground as his friends looked on.
A family member said in a post on social media that the teenager had sustained a bruised shoulder, cuts & grazing to his knee, face and elbow, and chipped teeth.
Following the investigation, the officer has been served with a court attendance notice on Tuesday "for offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault."
The officer had been placed on "restricted duties" while the investigation was undertaken, and his employment status is now under review.
It follows the conviction last month of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is now awaiting sentencing for the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.
