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Thursday, July 26, 2018

Viral video shows police restraining crying 9-year-old during father's arrest

ATHENS, Georgia — A police department in Georgia says it is investigating the circumstances that led an officer to forcefully restrain a young boy.

Video of the encounter spread through social media, drawing allegations of excessive force. On Monday, as furor over the video grew, Athens-Clarke County Police released the officer's body camera footage and a statement regarding the incident.

Chief R. Scott Freeman has ordered an internal affairs investigation,the statement said, and the Athens-Clarke County attorney is reviewing the incident because a juvenile is involved.

The woman who posted the original video on Facebook did not return CNN's emails or Facebook messages attempting to reach her. Her video prompted allegations of racial bias because the officer is white and the boy is black. But the body camera footage offers additional context: the raw emotional reaction of a child witnessing a parent's arrest.

More/Video

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once again, a video only showing a piece of the actual incident causes a police officer to be convicted in the media before the whole story comes to light.

Anonymous said...

Now the local police are separating parents from children!

As with the illegals, don't do the crime - unless you're willing to do the time!

Anonymous said...

First off, it sounds like the kid knows something the cops don't. Otherwise why would he say "he didn't shoot nobody"? Second, the kid clearly has not been taught how to treat police correctly (or any of his elders, really).Finally, a 9/10 year old who is emotionally distraught can be a real hand full.

Anonymous said...

Looked OK to me. Maybe the other adults there should have controlled the little guy instead of worrying about filming. Those cops will probably be dealing with the kid in the future.

Anonymous said...

Not one of the adults put down their phone to try to console that child. They were more worried about escalating the situation. The police calmed the child. Let him know what he was doing was wrong and then let him talk to his dad.

lmclain said...

I admired how they adhered to their training --- while they beat the crap out of people and twist their arms to the point of breaking, and have one guy with his knee on the neck of a suspect, they are trained to yell "STOP RESISTING!! STOP RESISTING!!!", even when it's obvious no resistance is being offered and no resistance is possible. Even when it's a 9 year old, 60 lb kid.
Just in case the video goes to court.
Violence was NECESSARY because the suspect kept resisting, and by "resisting", they mean "still breathing".
Keep cheering.
And teach your kids some manners and respect, too, you ghetto losers. With all those so-called adults standing around, the POLICE have to restrain your kid???
Society is falling apart.

Anonymous said...

Mom was there to complain about her child being controlled, but wasn't there to do it herself and saw absolutely no fault in the child's behavior.

Anonymous said...

A judge will take the path of least resistance as usual.

Anonymous said...

I AGREE WITH YOU

should have let K-9 Loose to grab and bite that little brat kid

Darn it

That will teach em

LastMohican said...

The article said one person grabbed the boy and told him to "chill", to no avail.

I feel for the boy. It must be upsetting to see your only legal guardian being taken away in cuffs and not knowing if you will see him again.

I'm not sure if the cops could have handled it better or not. Some would complain no matter what anyway. That boy is so distraught and emotional could have hurt himself or caused someone else to get hurt.

Just imagine trying to hold him as he is being that way and wiggling around and doing everything he could to get away and out of your grip. The cop would probably have hurt him just by gripping him so tight to keep him in one spot. You ever try to hold a child that was so upset he would twist and turn every which way to get loose?

It might not look pretty to some by the cops methods but he got things under control, maintained order and nobody got hurt.

Cops get a lot of bad press already. Some deserved it and some of it is exaggerated. I don't see too much of a problem with this one.

Anonymous said...

Hey everybody, how about the parent who put that child in that situation? Always someone else's fault. "He din do nuffin."

Anonymous said...

The kid jumped at the officer. Plus his dad should be the one to blame. He should have thought about him before committing his crime. But ALL the blacks around him, blame the officer. The child's father, din do nuffins. Same thing over and over. They are teaching him right. Hate the cops. He will have a criminal record by the time he is a teenager. Wonder who they will blame for that?