Anger after US police pepper-spray 9-year-old girl
Police officers who handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a nine-year-old girl in the US city of Rochester were suspended at the mayor’s request. What happened Friday was simply horrible, and has rightly outraged, all of our community,” said Mayor Lovely Warren.
“Unfortunately, (New York) state law and union contract prevents me from taking more immediate and serious action.”
Warren did not specify how many officers were suspended. The suspension will last at least until the conclusion of an internal investigation by the Rochester police.
Footage released on Sunday, which has sparked new outrage over excesses committed by the country’s law enforcement, showed at least seven officers were involved in the incident.
Deputy Police Chief Andre Anderson said the girl — who has not been named — had been suffering from a serious mental health emergency, reportedly threatening to take her own life and that of her mother.
Officers called to the scene on Friday eventually responded by handcuffing her, before trying to force her into a car and pepper-spraying her when she resisted, body cam videos released by the city’s police force showed.
Rochester police said they were “required” to use handcuffs and the irritant against the girl for her own safety.
The video shows the girl crying out repeatedly for her father while being physically restrained. At one point an officer can be heard saying, “You’re acting like a child” — to which she responds, “I am a child!”
Warren condemned the use of force against a young girl, pledging an internal review of the city’s law enforcement practices.
“It is clear from the video that we need to do more supporting our children and families,” she said at a press conference Sunday.
“I have a 10-year-old child, so she’s a child, she’s a baby,” she added. This video, as a mother, is not anything you want to see. We have to understand compassion, empathy.
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Source: eNCA
