By Ray Hanania

Last week, Perri Small, a friend and WVON-AM radio host, Facebooked me, asking what I thought of news reports of an Arab teenager who was beaten by Oak Lawn police?

She noted, sarcastically, I “have no compassion for Black boys.”

I had just heard of the incident, which took place on Wednesday, July 27. Oak Lawn police stopped a vehicle that was missing a front license plate, smelled burnt cannabis in the car and asked each of the three teenagers to exit the vehicle to be patted down.

Two of the passengers consented to be searched, and nothing happened. But when the third teenager, later identified as Hadi Abuatelah, 17, of Palos Hills, exited the vehicle with what looked like a military weapons satchel. He ran and the police gave chase.

Police said it clearly appeared as if there was a weapon in that satchel that was strapped over his shoulder. The police gave chase, caught him and tried to restrain and handcuff him, punching him repeatedly in the arm and face to get his hands away from the weapon. A videotape showing only the beating quickly went viral.

Ray Hanania

Activists in the Arab and Muslim community immediately protested and called a press conference on Thursday, July 28, bringing in an official of the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim American lawyer, the mother, and members of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN). They all insisted the beating was “another example” of “police brutality” and “racist targeting” of a minority, this time an Arab Muslim.

CAIR’s Ahmad Rehab released a statement, “Regardless of the alleged infraction that led to the arrest, the video clearly shows a restrained teenager in submission, not resisting, being brutally beaten by three officers without justification. As a result, he has sustained internal bleeding to the head, a broken nose, and other bodily injuries, all fully avoidable. The issue here is excessive force and police brutality. Something we are seeing again and again and again.”

“Regardless of the alleged infraction?” Are you kidding me? The video is only part of what happened.

What about the weapon? What is a 17-year-old doing in a car with drugs and a 25 mm semi-automatic weapon with three live rounds of ammunition in a bag around his shoulder?

After protesters fiercely denounced the police, Oak Lawn Police Chief Daniel Vittorio acted quickly to respond to the accusations emphasizing police suspected the teenager had a weapon. It makes sense. Why would he run? Nothing happened to the other two teenagers. They weren’t beaten.

Abuatelah was face-down on the ground as police officers punched his arms and head repeatedly to get him to move his hands away from the weapon, which was in the satchel under his chest.

Abuatelah resisted and he and another officer were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Vittorio said Abuatelah continued reaching for the weapon and the satchel.

I spoke to a witness who I know and who was in the drive-thru ordering a shawarma sandwich at Hakuna Matata restaurant at 6035 W. 95th St., near where police caught the armed teenager.

Fearing bullying from activists who attack anyone who questions their claims, I’m not printing her name. She said she was waiting for her order when Abuatelah, holding the weapons bag, ran past her car, followed by the police.

“It looked like a bag that you would hold a weapon and ammunition in. I was frightened,” she told me. “A police officer ran right past me in the car through the drive-thru.”

The suspect kept looking back at the police as he ran with the satchel around his head and shoulder clutched in his hands.

Once the teenager was on the ground, she heard people at the restaurant come out yelling, “What did he do? Why are you beating him?”

Imagine if police had seen teenager Salvador Ramos carrying weapons in a satchel on May 24. Imagine if they tried to grab him and he resisted, and they beat him to get the weapons before he could enter the school.

The police would have prevented a massacre. The activists would be denouncing “police brutality,” defending Ramos and downplaying the weapons.

But police did not catch Ramos. Instead, he entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and murdered 19 little children and two teachers.

The question again is why did Abuatelah have an illegal weapon, and what was he planning to do with it?

Yes. I have no compassion for any teenager — black, white, Hispanic, Asian or Arab — who has a weapon and is using drugs. I blame the parents who show no concern that their child has a dangerous weapon, and I don’t blame the police. They put their lives on the line to protect people from criminals with guns.

Shame on those who defend this kid. He needs help, but clearly he won’t get it.

Check out Ray Hanania’s columns and political podcasts at hanania.com.