Dylan

Dylan Cannon

Dylan Cannon

16-year-old black teenager

In July 2020, officers of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana Police Department used excessive force in the arrest of 16-year-old Dylan Cannon. It is reported that the police tried to stop the car in which the teenager was traveling, allegedly because he did not fasten his seat belt and drove through a red traffic light.

After a short chase, the young man’s car stopped and Cannon got out with his hands in the air. The police officers knocked him to the ground and “handcuffed him by force”, despite the fact that he did not resist arrest and followed all orders. Police officers held the teenager face down, pressing his knee to the ground, after which, according to eyewitnesses, they hit him several times on the back and pointed a gun at him.

In July 2021, the teenager’s mother sued the city and the police department, accusing them of using excessive force against a 16-year-old boy. The lawsuit alleges that “the knee of one of the officers pressed on Cannon’s neck for almost 30 seconds, limiting his ability to breathe.” The family’s lawyers argue that the teenager’s arrest is a pattern of excessive use of force and misconduct.