TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A 15-year-old Palestinian-American from Florida who was taken into custody by Israeli security forces during a family visit to the Middle East says he was beaten and kicked so much he lost consciousness after the slaying of a cousin living there.
Tampa teenager Tariq Abu Khdeir flew home last week after his ordeal, which included nine days of house arrest by Israeli authorities. He told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday from his home in Tampa that the trip to see relatives had begun with a lot of “fun” in June.
“They took my cousin, my best friend … they took him and they killed him,” Tariq said during the interview, seated on a couch beside his mother.
Three days after the teen was detained, Israeli authorities released the teen and sentenced him to the nine days of house arrest while they investigated what they said was his participation in violent protests over the death of his cousin – 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian living near Jerusalem.
On Sunday, the Florida teen denied any part in rock-throwing protests, saying of the Israeli authorities, “I didn’t do anything to them to do this to me.”