Police officers in Syracuse were captured on camera detaining a 8-year-old Black boy after he allegedly stole a bag of chips. The 4-minute video of the incident that happened over the weekend, taken and shared by Kenneth Jackson, had amassed more than 50,000 views on Facebook and more than 1 million on Twitter by Wednesday. This isn’t the first time police have used excessive for on a young Black child.
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Remember when it happened in 2020 in Honolulu? Back then, it was a 10-year Black girl who was handcuffed with excessive force in front of classmates and brought to a police station for questioning for drawing an “offensive” photo of her bully.
In the most recent case, the footage is hard to watch: A white officer is seen dragging the crying child into a waiting patrol car. You can hear Jackson pleading with cops to let him go. “If he breaks into your house and steals something, then what?” one of the officers asks Jackson.
“You’re treating him like a cold-blooded f—king killer,” Jackson retorts right before offering to pay for the chips himself. Syracuse Police Department issued a statement as outrage pertaining to the video grew.
“We are aware of a video being shared on social media involving several of our Officers and juveniles accused of stealing from a store on the City’s northside. The incident, including the Officers’ actions and body-worn cameras, are being reviewed,” the statement read.
Local Governor Kathy Hochul had a response to the matter during a press conference Wednesday morning. “Let me just say as a mother: That was a heart-wrenching video to witness. A child weeping, being pulled by the police officers, put in the back of a police car over a bag of potato chips — at least that’s what the evidence says right now,” she said.
She continued: “And, you know, it’s just the realization that in Black and brown communities all over our state, and all over our country, they’re not as shocked as others are to see this. Because they’ve been conditioned to a different kind of treatment from policing agencies and others throughout their lives.
So that’s a statement that we need to do more. We have more work to do. And I know that the mayor is working closely with the Police Department to get to the bottom of everything.”
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