” But what are you doing ? In a video seen more than 5 million times on one of the Twitter accounts that relayed it on Monday, a white American policeman arrests an eight-year-old black girl. Injury ? To have been caught “stealing” Doritos, respond the agents present on the spot to the man, amazed, filming the scene.
“She steals a packet of crisps and you treat her like a criminal (…) if she stole crisps, I will reimburse,” the witness says to the policeman who takes the crying child to the back of the police vehicle. Media reports said the incident happened over the weekend in Syracuse, upstate New York.
An internal procedure triggered
In an official statement, the Syracuse police assured Tuesday that “the minor suspected of theft was not handcuffed”, but “placed in the back of a patrol unit and taken directly home”. “Officers have met the father of the child and no charges have been brought,” added the police, who assured that an internal procedure had been triggered and that the incident was “under examination” .
The video sparked a flood of condemnations on social media and revived recurring accusations of racism against US police. “As a mother, it was a heartbreaking video to watch,” New York State Governor Kathy Hochul condemned on Wednesday. For her, this video is less surprising for African Americans, because “they have been used to receiving different treatment from the police and others, throughout their lives”. “That’s why we need to do more,” she added.
“Rather than talk to her or handle the incident differently, the police chose to make matters worse and arrest a clearly terrified 8-year-old child,” defense lawyer Ben Crump tweeted. of families who are victims of police violence.