A video of an 8-year-old boy allegedly being detained by Syracuse, New York police officers over a stolen bag of chips went viral this week, sparking outrage online.
The clip was captured and shared on Facebook by Kenneth Jackson, who witnessed three white officers taking the Black child into custody in Syracuse on Sunday. A portion of the video was later reposted to Twitter, where it has been viewed 5.3 million times.
In the tense footage, one officer held the boy’s arms behind his back while he screamed and sobbed.
Jackson berated the police, demanding, “What is y’all doing?”
“Guess. Take a guess what I’m doing,” barked the officer holding the 8-year-old.
“He looks like a baby to me,” Jackson said.
Another officer told Jackson, “He’s stealing stuff.”
But Jackson continued to fume at the officers, yelling, “Nah, man. What, he stole a bag of chips so you treat him like an old cold-blooded f**king killer?”
“Keep walking, dude, you don’t even know what you’re talking about,” the second officer said.
Jackson continued to shout at the police, adding that if a bag of chips was stolen, he would pay for it.
The boy’s father, Anthony Weah, told The Post-Standard that he received a call from Syracuse police on Sunday and the officers met him at home with his three sons. Weah said he was told that the boys were accused of stealing a bag of Doritos from a store.
In that conversation, Weah said the officers were friendly and did not press charges. It was only later, upon seeing Jackon’s video along with millions of other internet viewers, that the father became outraged. He told the local newspaper that he planned to file a complaint about the police’s treatment of his child.
The Syracuse Police Department addressed the viral clip on Tuesday. “The incident, including the Officers’ actions and body-worn cameras, are being reviewed,” said a statement on Facebook. “There is some misinformation involving this case. The juvenile suspected of larceny was not placed in handcuffs. He was placed in the rear of a patrol unit where he was directly brought home. Officers met with the child’s father and no charges were filed.”
But many viewers of the video were not appeased.
“This is just wrong!” exclaimed a comment on Twitter. “For a $3 bag of chips? To protect and serve who?!!”
“Kids do stupid things sometimes,” added another. “Teaching with compassion would have been a better response…and that bag of chips may have been his dinner.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul spoke about the incident during an unrelated press conference at the CNY Biotech Accelerator in Syracuse on Wednesday, according to The Post-Standard. “As a mother, that was a heart-wrenching video to witness,” she said.
According to New York state law, a police officer can detain a child suspected of committing a crime without a warrant. The officer is required to immediately notify a parent or legal guardian and release the child to their custody or take them to a family court.
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GOOD FOR THE OFFICERS! The emotional response of the boy will be a deterrent to future criminal behavior. Dogooders enable and encourage future criminal behavior. The officers followed the Law. The boy struggled and had to be restrained.
Agreed! Hopefully the boy learned a lesson, with no criminal record.
I was a teacher in a high poverty/high free lunch school with a majority of black students. I can tell you if this kid is not given the treatment now, you will be incarcerating him for much worse later! Those police may just have saved his life. Many people are hungry but do not steal food. They ask people for a meal. This child was stealing, simple as that. But rather than focus on making sure the child is remorseful and understands what he has done and that stealing is unacceptable, no, the community and father want to minimize the crime. Shoplifting costs are borne by the shoppers who pay for their goods. So how much more do people who struggle to pay their bills have to pay in this community for people who shoplift?
Agree…
But in today’s Amerika, what’s right is wrong
AND
What’s wrong is right.
Agreed!
This fits so perfectly into the woke, leftists’ playbook…
A perfect story for next gen news, even better for AOL, cnn, msnbc, abc, cbs, nbc, npr.
I can hear it now….”Defund The Police.”
“No Justice No Peace.”
NO DOUBT THERE’S MORE TO THIS INCIDENT THAT WE’LL NEVER HEAR ABOUT.
Agreed! So good to read comments from responsible people with a head on their shoulders and good citizenship
If that were me getting arrested, my father would have thanked the officers and gave me a very stern lecture on stealing another person’s property and the long time consequences of a life in crime. Hence why I turned out to be a law abiding and responsible for my actions individual.
Hear. . .Hear! Another good reply
I wonder, would that man have said anything to the officers if the boy was an 8-year-old white boy? I wonder, if the boy was white, would it have gotten 5.3 million views on Twitter? Does anyone have an idea, why it seems no one cared the boy was stealing? Do they even care the boy was stealing? In today’s America, does asking these questions make me a racist? If yes, why?
And now he has stolen a bicycle. Next week it will be a car.
If they had been black officers detaining the young thief, there would have been less outrage, maybe none. Better yet, the thief should have been brought up knowing that thievery can have consequences. It would be interesting to know if there had been previous successful thefts, or if was this his first time. In any case, let’s hope it is his last one.
Guilty ……..people have to learn right from wrong! This may be just the beginning for this child. Race has nothing to do with this episode of theft!
Are you kidding me? The police should have paid for the chips and then taught the young boy a valuable lesson why it’s wrong to steal! It was ok for you to do this to a harmless child, yet for well over a year(and it’s still happening now), you played catch and release with murderers, rapists, arsonists, robbers and vandals! How dare you? I’m white , but I’m understanding more and more why black people don’t trust white police officers! You traumatized that poor boy! If you saw your young child being treated that way, there would be hell to pay! I hope the Dad sues the pants off of you – better yet, your badges!
This was probably the best thing that could happen to a young man! He will probably remember that experience and it will reinforce what I’m sure his parents taught him. Do not lie, cheat or steal. He can pass this experience on to his children when he grows up. Tough love has saved many.
Amen. Teach them right from wrong early. This father doesn’t seem to get it though. If he doesn’t get smart quick he can visit his son behind bars later.