Horrific video posted on social media recently shows a police officer forcibly restraining a small child who was distraught over his father being arrested.
Now, the Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Police Department is looking into the incident. “Police Chief [Scott] Freeman has ordered an internal affairs investigation and the release of the officer’s body cam footage,” a statement reads. “The Athens-Clarke County attorney is reviewing the video footage due to a juvenile involvement, and the video will be release [sic] once his office has completed their review.”
Video of the incident was originally posted to Facebook by the young boy’s cousin with the caption, “These mfs done slammed my lil cousin on the car first (the footage I didn’t get) then on the ground.” The Root has released the body cam video with the child’s face blurred out.
Officers are shown pinning the child to the ground and handcuffing him as adults in the background are heard screaming. The officer then accused the child of “attacking an officer” and instructed everyone to “back up.”
The boy’s father was later taken into custody over domestic violence allegations. He’s seen on the video being handcuffed as the same time the young boy lunges toward the police officer.
“Our officer caught the child in mid-air and the momentum of the child launching himself caused the both of them to land on the patrol car. The child continued to be emotionally distraught, and continued with the outburst, at which time our officer placed him on the ground,” the police statement claims. “While on the ground, the officer continued to attempt to de-escalate the situation, assuring the child that he was not under arrest and that he would let him up if he would remain calm.”
Uh yeah, except for the fact that the video clearly shows the cop screaming “stop resisting” while pinning a 10-year-old child to the ground. The young boy also is heard saying “Yes, sir” multiple times.
The boy was later released from handcuffs.
Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP/Getty Images
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