Police brutality is an ongoing issue frequently gaining attention as new footage continues to surface on social media and other public spaces. Florida’s Key West Police Department is under fire after a 2018 video surfaced in which officers are conducting an arrest at an elementary school. In the difficult-to-watch video, officers can be seen handcuffing an 8-year-old child as he cries. The child, unidentified due to his age, was arrested and charged with felony battery. According to an attorney representing the child, the boy has special needs and was participating in an Individualized Education Program at the school, NBC News reported.
The police footage garnered attention Monday after being posted to Twitter and Instagram by Tallahassee civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump. "Instead of honoring and fulfilling that plan, the school placed him with a substitute teacher who had no awareness or concern about his needs and who escalated the situation by using her hands to forcibly move him," Crump said in a statement. "When he acted out, the teacher called the police, who threatened him with jail and tried to put him in handcuffs, which fell off because he was too little."
Crump, a well-known attorney, represents the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. On Monday, he announced that he and Pennsylvania attorney Devon Jacobs will be representing the child and plan to file a federal lawsuit against the Key West Police Department and the Monroe County School District this week. "As a former police officer, I am appalled by the conduct of these officers," Jacobs said in a statement.
The child slumps down in his seat at the beginning of the video, resulting in the police officer’s body cam footage capturing only the top of the boy’s head. “You know where you’re going? You’re going to jail,” a Key West police officer says in the video. The officer then instructs him to stand up and place his hands on a metal cabinet in the hallway of his elementary school for a pat-down. Officers then try to handcuff the boy but are unable to do so, since his wrists appear to be too small. It’s “not worth it,” another officer can be heard saying. The child is then led outside of the school and taken to a police vehicle, at which point an officer says: "You understand this is very serious, okay? I hate that you put me in this position that I have to do this. The thing about it is you made a mistake and now it's time to learn from it and grow from it, right? Not repeat the same mistake again."
According to the arrest report obtained by the Miami Herald, police were called to Gerald Adams Elementary on Dec.14, 2018 after the child punched a teacher in the chest. The child was allegedly sitting incorrectly on a bench seat in the cafeteria during lunch when a teacher asked him to sit down. After he ignored her requests, she then told the child to sit next to her. The child allegedly refused and told the teacher, “Don’t put your hands on me,” the report said. The teacher “did not sustain any obvious injuries as a result of the punch,” the report added. In the police report, Officer Michael Malgrat said that when he saw the child in the school’s administrative office, “he was postured as if he was ready to fight.”
“This is a heartbreaking example of how our educational and policing systems train children to be criminals by treating them like criminals,” Crump said in a statement, according to the Miami Herald. “If convicted, the child in this case would have been a convicted felon at eight years old. This little boy was failed by everyone who played a part in this horrific incident.”
Crump’s social media post went viral Monday with hundreds of people criticizing the police department for their actions and involvement. The school’s inability to address the issue in-house was questioned, in addition to why the police were involved in a special needs case in the first place. The school was also criticized for failing to address the child’s needs and placing a substitute teacher in charge of a child without the knowledge of his needs. According to The Washington Post, Crump noted that officers used “scared straight” tactics, a technique allegedly designed to deter juveniles from future criminal activity by emphasizing severe consequences. These intimidating tactics are not only dehumanizing but ineffective.
Defending the officers involved in the incident, Key West Police Chief Sean T. Brandenburg told the Miami Herald his officers did not do anything wrong. “Based on the report, standard operating procedures were followed,” he said.
“At eight years old, three and a half feet tall, and 64 (pounds), this little boy didn’t pose a threat to anyone," Crump said on Twitter. According to Crump’s statement, the child was taken to an adult prison for processing but the police department claims the boy was booked in a juvenile justice facility.
This isn’t the first incident to appear on social media depicting police mistreatment of minors. Last week, police in Colorado apologized after officers wrongfully pulled over a car containing four Black children and handcuffed two of them, the Post reported. Earlier this year, footage of another Florida officer arresting a 6-year-old girl and restraining her with a zip tie also surfaced, causing national outrage. Nationwide and amid ongoing protests against police brutality, footage of police officers dehumanizing people of color have surfaced with both adults and children as victims. It seems that “All lives matter” to some—unless those lives belong to people of color, in which case there must be more context to the story.
The status of the child’s criminal case is unknown at this time and the police report fails to mention any special needs. Crump and Jacobs are expected to hold a news conference on the case Tuesday.
