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This is the moment a white American police officer punches a teenage black girl in the face after a dispute about how she and her friend crossed the road.

Video footage of Officer Ian Walsh lashing out at the 17-year-old in Seattle has shocked the U.S.

The teenager reels backwards in shock from the blow before clutching her face while a bystander can be heard asking: ‘Are you serious?’

Police arrested the girl, Angel Rosenthal, and her friend, 19-year-old Marilyn Ellen Levias, both of whom have criminal records.

Seattle Police chiefs have launched an investigation into the alleged assault after viewing the video footage.

Civil rights activists are outraged and say the punch was an action of anger not self-defence.

The incident comes weeks after another two Seattle officers seen kicking a Hispanic robbery suspect who later turned out to be innocent.

James Kelly, who heads the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle group, said of the police: ‘Shame on you. The use of violence in the form of a full-blown fist to the face was wrong.

‘What the 17-year-old did was wrong,’ he told ABC News. ‘I'm not making any excuses for her, but two wrongs don't make a right.’

And a woman with whom the 17-year-old lives echoed his statements.

‘She's not a criminal,’ the woman, who would not give her name, said as she waited for a juvenile court hearing for the teen yesterday.

‘She ran into a situation that maybe wasn't right, but two wrongs don't make a right.’
Rodney King video

The confrontation began after Walsh spotted a man jaywalking - the American term for not crossing a road at a pedestrian crossing or junction controlled by lights - and went to speak to him.

According to the police report a group of four girls were also spotted doing the same and the officer called them over to his patrol car.

The women became verbally abusive and started to walk away ignoring the Walsh’s instructions to remain where they stood.

When he tried to stop the teen two of them began grappling with him.

As the 17-year-old, wearing a pink top, tried to push away Walsh, he lashed out with his fist.

Other officers who had answered a call for help arrived on the scene and handcuffed the 19-year-old.

Both teens were charged with jaywalking and assaulting a police officer.

The case echoes the case of Rodney King, whose brutal beating by police prompted the Los Angeles race riots in 1992.

A police spokesman said they will review the video tape but said punching is a trained tactic for police officers.

‘There will be a thorough investigation into this incident,’ said a spokesman.

Both girls have now been released from custody.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0r3pITVom

The case echoes the case of Rodney King, whose brutal beating by police prompted the Los Angeles race riots in 1992.

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