Prosecutors in Palm Beach County told SA国际传谋 on Thursday they won鈥檛 pursue criminal charges against a teenage U.S. citizen from West Palm Beach who last May video-recorded his arrest by law enforcement authorities following a traffic stop in Riviera Beach that involved federal immigration agents.
鈥淎fter a thorough review of the report and contact with the arresting officer, we have determined there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal charge," the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office said in a statement to SA国际传谋.
The nine-minute video showed a group of law enforcement officers in tactical gear aggressively taking down Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio 鈥� an 18-year-old U.S. citizen 鈥� and two other young men suspected of being in the country illegally. Laynez-Ambrosio was born and raised in West Palm Beach.
The video was shared with several media outlets by the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth. It went viral online in the past week and has drawn widespread media attention.
The arrest of the three men happened May 2 when Laynez-Ambrosio was driving to his landscaping job in North Palm Beach with his mother and two co-workers. His mother is a legal U.S. resident.
READ MORE: Taken by ICE moments after securing a path to legal migrant status: A Honduran's story
It鈥檚 unclear why the van they were driving was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol troopers or why Border Patrol agents were contacted. FHP troopers have partnered this year with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement to help the Trump administration's deportation efforts in apprehending suspected undocumented immigrants.
In the video, a female officer can be heard asking, in Spanish, if anyone is in the country illegally. One of the passengers tells the officer he is undocumented.
That鈥檚 when the scene grows more tense, with the young men being handcuffed, tasered and forced to the sidewalk.
鈥淵ou got no rights here. You鈥檙e an illegal, brother,鈥� one of the law enforcement officers is heard telling Laynez-Ambrosio.
The officers can then be heard boasting about the arrest and saying 鈥測ou can smell that 鈥� $30,000 bonus.鈥�
At the time of the arrest, Laynez-Ambrosio and the two others were charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.
Laynez-Ambrosio said he and his co-workers were taken to an immigrant detention center in Riviera Beach and that he was detained for several hours before being released.
He said the other two were transferred to the Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County, and have since been released pending an immigration hearing.
Federal immigration officials, in a statement to SA国际传谋, said U.S. Border Patrol agents responded May 2 to a request for assistance from FHP troopers.
In its statement, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, said the agency arrested 鈥渟everal adult male illegal aliens鈥� after FHP stopped a vehicle near John D. MacArthur Beach State Park.
The CBP said the arrest is being internally reviewed.
鈥淒uring the encounter, several of the illegal aliens resisted arrest, resulting in a USBP agent deploying a taser,鈥� the CBP stated. 鈥淚n accordance with CBP policy, all use of force incidents are reviewed by CBP鈥檚 Office of Professional Responsibility.鈥�
Father Frank O鈥橪oughlin, who founded Guatemalan-Maya Center and is its executive director, that 鈥渞acial profiling is the heart of this鈥� incident and that the young men confronted by federal immigration agents and FHP troopers were 鈥渢reated like trash.鈥�
Laynez-Ambrosio told SA国际传谋 that the incident with the Border Patrol and FHP troopers has traumatized him and his mother.
"鈥奍 never expected that they were gonna racially profile me and my workers and my mom," he said. "I've been stressed out 'cause there's no work, no money coming in financially."
The violent and aggressive tactics by Border Patrol agents was unnecessary, Laynez-Ambrosio , an independent non-profit news organization.
"It didn鈥檛 need to go down like that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f they knew that my people were undocumented, they could鈥檝e just kindly taken them out of the car and arrested them.鈥�
鈥淚t hurt me bad to see my friends like that,鈥� he added. 鈥淏ecause they鈥檙e just good people, trying to earn an honest living.鈥�
