Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Handout
The mother of a Black man who was left with a bloodied and swollen face after a police traffic stop in Florida says she did not recognize her own son in viral images of the incident.
Video footage went viral over the weekend showing Le’Keian Woods, 24, being forcefully restrained by officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in Florida on Friday. At one point, one of the officers appears to slam Woods’ head into the ground as he lay chest-down by the side of a road.
Woods’ family hired civil rights lawyer Harry Daniels, who in turn told USA Today that Woods had been pulled over for a seatbelt violation before he was “beaten by multiple” officers. The video of the incident, which was filmed by a bystander, later shows Woods’ eyes swollen and face bloodied as he’s propped up against the legs of one of the officers.