An upsetting video that was published by Twitter, shows an 8-year-old youngster with special needs being horribly assaulted by a police officer.
In the incident, which occurred in December 2018 at a Florida school in Key West, according to reports, the police officers put the boy down and told him he was going to jail as shown in the video. The report added that there was an altercation between the child and his teacher involved.
The confrontation began when the 8-year-old special needs student refused to sit in his seat in the cafeteria, prompting his teacher to sit next to him in an effort to keep him from possibly falling out of his chair but the boy then warned the teacher, “Don’t put your hands on me,” and later on, the child allegedly punched the female teacher in the chest, police were then called out to the primary school, in an arrest record.
He allegedly said, “My mom is going to beat your a-,” before punching the teacher in the chest when she asked him to accompany her to the principal’s office. Officer Michael Malgrat, who was present in the school’s administrative office when the two arrived, was subsequently made aware of the circumstance. The boy “had his hands clenched into fists and he was postured as if he was ready to fight,” as Malgrat explained.
After patting the boy down and telling him he’s “going to jail,” one of the policemen commands him to get up and turn around. The officer then tries to handcuff the boy but gives up when he discovers the child’s small wrists easily slip out of the shackles. The cops book the youngster at the juvenile detention center in Key West after escorting him out of the school and toward a police cruiser as the video comes to an end.
The public, however, reacted negatively to the bodycam film as was expected, notably Tallahassee civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump. Due to the child’s young age, the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office decided not to charge him and his mother.
Crump wrote on Twitter, “Unbelievable!! @KWPOLICE used “scared straight” tactics on 8yo boy with special needs. He’s 3.5 ft tall and 64 lbs, but they thought it was appropriate to handcuff and transport him to an adult prison for processing!! He was so small the cuffs fell off his wrists! ”
Unbelievable!! @KWPOLICE used “scared straight” tactics on 8yo boy with special needs. He’s 3.5 ft tall and 64 lbs, but they thought it was appropriate to handcuff and transport him to an adult prison for processing!! He was so small the cuffs fell off his wrists! pic.twitter.com/iSTlXdKas6
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 10, 2020
The boy’s mother also retained Crump and pledged to launch a federal lawsuit against the KWPD and the Monroe County School District, as well as enlisting Pennsylvania attorney Devon Jacobs.
“This is a heartbreaking example of how our educational and policing systems train children to be criminals by treating them like criminals. 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 said in a statement.
Sean T. Bradenburg, the police chief in Key West, made a statement after the video was made public. He argued that the officers behaved properly and that they had every right to apprehend the youngster. He said, “Based on the report, standard operating procedures were followed.”
In a similar vein, the school issued a statement to allay the commotion but made it clear that it was unable to comment on the matter because legal action was still underway.
“The District is not, and has not, been involved in litigation about this incident. Due to the possibility of this matter becoming a legal issue in the future, we have been advised not to make further comment about the incident at this time,” the emailed statement reads.
Arguing that they followed protocol and did nothing wrong, the police department stood by the officers involved, despite how horrific the footage is.
Unfortunately, by the time the situation is in the hands of a police officer, the child’s life has already taken a lot of wrong turns. Even while it’s upsetting to witness any youngster being led away by police, no one seems to have a suitable solution for instances involving violent kids.
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: Taphaps, MiamiHerald , Standard
