Two New Jersey police officers are under investigation after a video shows them seemingly showing preference to a white teen while pinning a Black teen down after breaking up their fight at a shopping mall last weekend. The viral clip has many, including the white teen involved, alleging bias.
The state’s governor, NAACP, the child’s parent and other community leaders have responded in outrage. Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted saying, “I’m deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video. We’re committed to increasing trust between law enforcement and the people they serve.”
Footage captured by others revealed how the altercation unfolded. It showed that the white-passing teen, whose name is Joey, was actually the aggressor, placing even more heat on the arresting officers. The Black child’s name is Kye.
The video shows both teens arguing in the Bridgewater Commons mall in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, on Saturday, Feb. 12.
Viewers see Joey, who is larger than Kye, poking his finger into the young man’s face. Kye pushes Joey’s hand away. In response, Joey takes both of his hands and aggressively shoves Kye, the smaller teen, almost causing him to stumble.
This starts their physical fight. Both are throwing punches and other kids are scrambling out of the way.
Joey actually throws Kye onto a couch, but eventually, the tussle leads them to the ground. Joey maintains the advantage by standing over Kye, as the Black teen swings wildly from his unfortunate position. Within 10 to 15 seconds of the fight starting, the officers swarm in.
The female officer pushes Joey onto the same couch and shouts, “stay.” He sits there, for a second, and calmly watches the ordeal. However, at one point, Joey stands up and watches from a birds-eye view the officers detaining his opposition.
Both officers pin Kye down, turn him on his stomach, and start the process of cuffing him. To keep him still, they place their knees on the young man’s back.
A different teen is captured on the recording of the incident saying, “It’s cause he’s Black. It’s racially motivated.”
As they lift the Black young man, the white-skinned child is still standing and watching over the three. The female tells him to sit down and he puts up his hands as if to say “OK.”
At this time, the male officer sits the Black teen on a chair and makes a call on his walkie-talkie.
ABC 7 was one of the first outlets to identify Kye as a 14-year-old eighth grader from a local middle school. Kye explained that Joey is older than him and his friends and is in high school.
Kye described the incident almost as the video captured it. He claimed that the confrontation was precipitated by Joey picking on Kye’s seventh-grade friend.
“My friend was arguing with the older kid, and so I kind of just jumped into a fight,” he said. “And since he’s older, he was on top of me and he’s bigger. I was just confused and mad about it.”
