Black Teen Girl Arrested and Fought Against Force by the Police
How a 90-pound girl fought for her life against two policemen while being roughed up.
Protect and serve should come with common sense in its application. Lately, the reality of who many of the law enforcement is has come to the surface, showing how racist some are with excessive force unwarranted.
Thank God for the videos. A video captured a teenage girl being roughed up during an arrest by two Rialto police officers. Physically, they had the advantage over this girl child.
According to the news media, the video appeared to show that two officers threw this 16-year-old Black girl-child to the ground and appeared to grab her neck.
To make matters worse, she was detained for four days in police custody as her family sought to find out why she was arrested and thrown violently to the ground.
As it turned out, the teenager was arrested on February 11 for riding an illegal motorized bike at high speeds in a residential neighborhood according to the police chief, Mark Kling.
While an investigation is underway, the police department has apologized to the girl’s family. This is insane. An apology is not enough. Even if the above reason is true pertaining to the motorized bike why throw a child or anyone to the ground in this manner and grab his/her neck? There was nothing that warrant such behavior from trained law enforcement officers.
Video cameras do not lie, they capture what is before the lens. The video showed the officers grabbing this teenage girl’s arms and flinging her to the ground. The child was heard yelling to someone, “Go get my brother.”
As to be expected by a young girl being roughed up by two grown men who were police officers, fighting for her life by kicking, struggling and biting at the officer due to police officers’ reputation of mistreatment of people of color.
One officer was heard in response to the girl’s behavior saying, “Did you just try to bite me?” He then appeared to grab her neck. Also, the video showed the officer pushing her into the back of a police car as she calls out to a man standing nearby.
Just as the officers were putting her into their vehicle, her father and grandfather arrived. Initially, the officer had agreed to release her to her parents but after some verbal exchange, the officer forcefully put her into custody.
According to the media, the girl said something that upset the officer and he decided to give her an attitude check of sorts. Who needs the real attitude check here? What happened to communication to teach a lesson to a child?
The child’s behavior was in alignment with her treatment as she fought for her life in the midst of being man mishandled by these two cops, in the face of being thrown to the ground in such a manner. The world has seen how law enforcement officers have constantly been violating the civil rights of all people of color.
Picture this, two grown men throwing a 90-pound girl around. These two grown police officers are trained to de-escalate but apparently that training goes out the window when there is an altercation surrounding a person of color. These two cops created mayhem when the situation did not warrant such.
These two officers physically wrecked her body as her shoulder popped and she suffered a concussion. All this for riding a motorized bike? Unbelievable! Thank God for the videos. According to the news media, there will be an independent investigation by the Bernardino County district attorney’s office and an internal investigation of these officers’ physical abuse of a child.
The two officers’ names are being withheld pending investigation and one has been placed on administrative leave. What happened to the other officer? Is he yet roaming the streets to do the same to another kid?
Initially, these cops stopped this young girl for speeding on the motorized bike, but because she did not provide her name or age, which prevented her from being released with a citation but was arrested instead. Booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of resisting an officer by use of force. Use of force, as she fought to save her life from cops who made her feel threatened as they grabbed her by the neck and forced her to the ground? Her parents should file a lawsuit.
In conclusion, these cops felt disrespected by this young girl’s words and actions? What about showing respect to get respect? What about de-escalation when their lives are not threatened? What about treating all people equally like they want to be treated? What about being what the badge represents, serving, and protecting? Many cops have become a menace in communities of color and need to be removed from the payroll. Transparency and accountability need to be implemented at all times.
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