While his father was being arrested, a 10-year-old boy was being held on the ground, an adult police officer on top of him. It begs the question, if you can’t restrain a child without tackling them to the ground, should you really be on the police force?
Family members such as the boy’s grandfather have come forward, saying the officer who did this should be fired. “They should be fired because if they do one child like that, they’ll turn right back around and do somebody else’s child… anybody else’s child like that if they get away with it.”
Letting these incidents slide perpetuates the idea that cops can get away with things like this, and creates an environment where this behavior is acceptable. Surely a boy trying to speak with his father inside a cop car can’t pose a threat worthy of tackling him to the ground in front of his family. If this incident passes without consequences or attention, it will continue to happen on this level, and on a larger scale of force and brutality.
One of these concerned family members posted a video of the incident on social media, drawing a lot of attention and a storm of criticism towards the officers responsible. In the video, the child is screaming “Why? Why? He didn’t shoot nobody.” The opening shot is an officer pinning the child to the ground and twisting his arm to keep him still.
A child should not have to deal with being the target of unnecessary force as he watches his father being arrested. Police officials released a video trying to defend their actions, saying the officers were just attempting to “de-escalate” the situation. Regardless, there is no excuse for this kind of force, especially on a 10-year-old boy scared for his family, and now for himself. Because I’m sure he needed another reason to fear the police right?
