This is just an unfortunate case of the wrong time and place!, British media: African American children throw garbage and are innocently handcuffed. US police apologize: forget the time | media | innocent
According to The Guardian on the 13th, the Lansing City Police Department in Michigan, USA, apologized for a white police officer handcuffing an African American child at his doorstep. The police described it as an unfortunate incident at the wrong place and time and hoped that the public would forget about it and maintain good community relations.
According to videos circulating on social media, on the 10th local time, the police officer led a boy through the parking lot of an apartment building, and the department subsequently issued an apology statement on social media. When the police found the child, he was looking for a suspect in a series of car thefts.
Screenshot of a report by The Guardian in the UK
On August 11th, at a press conference held by his family and lawyer, it was announced that the name of the 12-year-old boy was Tashawen Bernard. According to the lawyer representing the Tashawen family, Bernard was taking out the trash when a police officer walked up to him. The police officer "took his gun out of the holster and held it in front of him.". In the video, about three minutes later, a police officer removed his handcuffs and talked to Bernard for about 30 seconds before the boy was allowed to meet up with his father on the sidewalk.
Tashawen's father Michael Bernard said that when his son takes longer than usual to take out the trash, he feels something is wrong. He said that when he walked outside, his son was "handcuffed and surrounded by police officers.". Lawyers Ayana and Riko Neil said that Bernard was greatly "traumatized" and he "never wanted to go out again.". On the 11th, the local police released two statements on social media, one of which stated that they hoped to "provide some background information on this unfortunate misunderstanding.".
The police said that a witness described the suspect's clothing, and then a person who matched the description ran into an apartment building from beside a police officer. Another police officer saw the child wearing "very similar clothes" and stopped him. When the police officer realized that he was not a suspect, he released him.
Lansing City Police Director Ellery Sosby said in a second statement released on the 11th that he reviewed the case and believed that the police officer had behaved politely and professionally during the temporary detention of the child. Nevertheless, he said, "We understand that such a thing will have an impact on all parties involved. As the police chief, I apologize for the impact this incident has had on this young man and his family."
But as USA Today mentioned in its report, this four minute video has sparked millions of views and posts on social media, and pointed out the use of tough language in the video. Many posts expressed anger towards this video and the number of police officers involved in the incident. "Just a child taking out trash - America," user Kenny Axes wrote on social media. User Frank Giuliano wrote, "Lansing City pays six police officers to arrest a child who throws garbage."
Content posted by Kenny Akers on her social media account
The Lansing City Police Department stated, "Community relations are the top priority for our entire department from top to bottom. We hope that everyone can put aside this unfortunate incident of 'wrong location, wrong time' and continue to represent the community we serve."
The Bernard family's lawyer stated that they have not received any other details from the police except for the content shared on social media. Lawyers say that the Bernard family is "exploring all legal options", including the possibility of filing a lawsuit.
Such situations where African American groups are subjected to violence due to police misjudgment are not uncommon in American society. On July 20th local time, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, another video posted on social media showed a police officer punching and kicking an African American man because he mistakenly believed he was involved in a hit and run accident.
The video shows that after the police picked up the baby from his arms and threw it to the ground, a police officer began to give him heavy hands and ordered him to put his hands behind his back. Witnesses told law enforcement that they saw two African American men and one African American woman fleeing towards the Apple Bee restaurant and thought it was the man. The police later discovered that the real perpetrator was hiding in the restroom of the restaurant, but the police stated that the man who was beaten was not responsible for the car accident. However, he ignored the police's orders, attempted to leave, and resisted the police.
Screenshot of CNN report
According to CNN, the Denver City Police Department also released a police enforcement record video on the 14th, which showed a police officer shooting and killing a man believed to be holding a knife. However, the police later discovered that the man was only holding a marker pen.
