FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A high school student from Fulton County, captured in a viral video being tased while on a school bus, is now voicing his side of the story.

Lanier Johnson-Hunt, a senior at Langston High School, is the individual seen in the footage being repeatedly assaulted by officers. They claimed he mistakenly boarded the wrong bus after school on Thursday, December 18.

During a press conference on Tuesday morning, the 18-year-old was accompanied by his mother and legal team, which includes civil rights attorney Harry Daniels and attorney Gerald Griggs.

Johnson-Hunt’s legal representatives assert that despite his insistence that he was on the correct bus, the officers forcibly extracted him from his seat and tased him multiple times, despite posing no threat.

“You do not use excessive force against a child,” said Daniels. “The officer had his hand around his neck. Lanier has burn marks on his throat and his chest.” 

Daniels had Johnson-Hunt show the burn marks on his neck from the taser, which is shown below. 

Before the situation escalated, Johnson-Hunt said all the students on the bus told officers that he was on the correct bus. Johnson-Hunt also told police that he was on the right bus. He said that he was heading home to take care of his six-year-old brother, who is autistic.

“We’ve been here too many times,” said Griggs. “He was merely trying to get home to take care of his little brother; he was in the right place at the right time to do the right thing.” 

Johnson-Hunt’s mom stated that Fulton County administrators gave her a completely different story when she was first notified about her son’s arrest. 

“They called me and told me that Lanier was on the bus trying to fight the police officer; he was actually on the wrong bus, they couldn’t get him off the bus,” said Ms. Johnson-Hunt. “They said that he gave them the wrong name. Long story short, none of those things were true.”

The truth, Ms. Johnson-Hunt said, is that police never asked him for his name; they asked the other students on the bus. He was on the correct bus, and he was not combative. 

“I just don’t feel it tasing him in the chest was the correct thing to do,” said Ms. Johnson-Hunt.

For Johnson-Hunt, the day started as a normal day until it was time for him to go home. 

“As soon as I got on the bus, the bus driver told me that I was not supposed to be on the bus, and today she’s gonna make sure I get off the bus, so don’t even sit down,” said Johnson-Hunt.

Later, school administrators got on the bus, and Johnson-Hunt said the driver told them his name, and they just assumed he wasn’t supposed to be there. When he refused to leave, the administrators made all the students get off the bus. Johnson-Hunt said that while they were off the bus, none of the administrators checked the students’ names, and they got back on the bus.

“As I get back on the bus, they told me to get off and that’s when they called the officers,” he said.

When the officers arrived, they continued trying to remove him from the bus using “excessive force.”

“I was feeling scared in the moment once the officers got on the bus,” said Johnson-Hunt. “They got on the bus very aggressively.” 

Johnson-Hunt said when he refused, the officers pulled him, grabbed him, choked him and tased him. 

Later, Johnson-Hunt said, as he was getting off the bus, one of the officers continued assaulting him. 

“He tried to tase me again while I was getting off the bus, and I jumped off the bus,” said Johnson-Hunt. “While I was off the bus, they put me in some handcuffs and the officer who tased me had started slapping me. He was slapping me and tried to tase me again while my hands were in the handcuffs.”

At this moment, the school administrators stepped in to stop the officer, but Johnson-Hunt described the officer as being relentless. The officer continued trying to attack him and “pushed against administrators” to get to him. 

EMS was later called and suggested that officers take Johnson-Hunt to Grady for an evaluation. However, Johnson-Hunt said he never received medical treatment until the next day. Instead, they took him to the police station and gave him a ticket. He was also put on a 10-day suspension from school. Then police contacted his mother, who said she did not know where her son was for four hours. 

His mother spoke with an administrator who said two buses come into the subdivision to pick up students, and students are allowed to ride either bus. 

“Lanier was on the bus,” she said. “The same bus he has been riding for the last two or three years shouldn’t have been a problem. 

She also said this happened about two weeks ago, the bus driver was told that he was on the correct bus by administrators.

The full press conference can be seen below: