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Go Skateboarding Day: Cop Vs Skaters

Posted by yassin on 30 June, 2007 - 23:47 in

June 21 was Go Skateboarding Day across the United States. But for skater Matt McCormack and handful of others in Hot Springs, Ark., celebrating the unofficial holiday by hopping on their boards landed them behind bars and under house arrest.

According to the skaters, Police Officer Joey Williams used excessive force in apprehending them for violating a city ordinance against skateboarding on the street. They have circulated a video [please scroll down | Fl0wer.net] of the incident on YouTube that has garnered almost a million views since it was posted June 25 and landed Williams at the center of an internal misconduct investigation and on paid leave from his post.

Caught on Tape

McCormack, 21, who shot the video and posted it on YouTube, told ABC News that he always carries a digital camera while skating, as he is gathering material for a local skate shop and feels particularly fortunate to have caught this incident.

"On YouTube you can see (Williams) choking the 13-year-old girl," McCormack said. "I think it's wrong. He was calling us thugs, but if you think about it, we were a whole bunch of kids and none of us had any drugs on us or anything like that. That's not that thuggish."

McCormack told ABC that although he and the other skaters did know it was illegal to ride on the sidewalk, they had ridden there before and were never warned or threatened with arrest. He is more concerned with the excessive force he feels Williams used when the officer appeared to put a 13-year-old girl ? the youngest in their skating group ? in a chokehold.

The following get arrested during the incident: