Video Of NJ Cops Restraining Black Teen, But Ignoring White Teen In Fight Brings Accusations of Racially Biased Policing
A viral video of how New Jersey police officers handled a shopping mall scuffle between two teenage boys, one Black and the other White, has many people–including Gov. Phil Murphy–wondering if this is another instance of racially biased policing.
On Monday (Feb. 14), the Bridgewater Police Department announced an internal investigation into the matter which has widely brought criticisms over unfair reactions of officers to a fight in which one boy appears to bully another, but only the Black boy is restrained.
"We recognize that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation,” the department statement read. The officers were able to respond quickly to this incident and stop it from escalating because of a tip we received from the community.
"We have requested that the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office assist us in this matter and are requesting patience as we strictly adhere to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Internal Affairs Directive.”
The video shows the teens arguing inside the Bridgewater Commons Mall. The Black boy was reportedly standing up for a friend who was being bullied. The argument escalates into a scuffle, as they scrap with each other surrounded by a group of boisterous teenagers. When the police arrive, they separate the boys.
A female officer places the White teen on a nearby couch to sit down while a male officer tackles the Black teenager to the ground, face down. He appears to straddle the Black teen to handcuff him, as the female officer kneels on the Black teen’s back. It doesn’t appear that the Black resists the officers.
"It's because he's Black, racially motivated," a female voice is heard saying in the video.
The video, below, was tweeted and retweeted many times over. Social media users shared similar comments about alleged racially biased policing.
CBS New York identified the Black teen only as "Kye," a 14-year-old who asked the station not to report his last name.
“I was confused, like, why they saw me as a bad person, like, me as an aggressor,” the eighth-grader said. “If they don’t know how to treat the situation and deal with the situation equally and fairly, then they shouldn’t be able to deal with the situation at all.”
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Kye’s mother, Ebone, also said the officers should have handled the situation differently.
“Maybe they could have broken up the fight and maybe set them aside and called their parents, no cuffs, no aggression, dealt with them like they were teenagers,” she stated, hesitating to call the officers’ response racially motivated.
The video caught the attention of New Jersey’s governor who tweeted about what he saw.
“Although an investigation is still gathering the facts about this incident, I’m deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video. We’re committed to increasing trust between law enforcement and the people they serve,” Murphy wrote.
Kye said he wants the officers fired. His mother added, “I’m not happy about it, and I do want those two cops to become unemployable. That’s what I would like.”
