一名14岁的男孩在新泽西一家购物中心劝架时被警察戴上手铐,他大声讲述了这一事件引发了内部调查警察对黑人少年的明显对待。
在该事件的一个病毒视频中,可以看到警察对2月12日在新泽西州Bridgewater Commons购物中心发生的青少年Kye和另一名青少年之间的打斗做出反应,但在驱散打斗后,警察只给黑人Kye戴上了手铐。
应母亲的要求,Kye只透露了他的名字,他告诉GMA3,这段经历对他来说“压力很大”,他不希望自己的故事引起全国的关注。
“想到我是如何因肤色而被区别对待的,感觉有点奇怪,”他说。
这段由一名旁观者拍摄的视频显示,这两名青少年发生了争吵,然后他们开始互相挥拳相向。KyeWABC告诉美国广播公司那场打斗是在另一个少年开始欺负Kye的朋友,而他站出来反抗他之后开始的。不久后,两名布里奇沃特镇的警察到达现场,制止了这场争吵。
在视频中,女警官让另一名打架的青少年坐在沙发上,然后开始协助男警官给Kye戴上手铐。
视频显示,参与打架的另一名青少年坐在沙发上,看着两名警察将膝盖放在Kye的背上。
Kye说他被关押了大约30分钟,然后被无罪释放。
代表Kye家庭的律师Ben Crump告诉GMA3,“毫无疑问”,这一事件是一个“有偏见的警察”的案例。
“我们有直观的证据。我的意思是,你亲眼所见,”克伦普说,指的是视频。
布里奇沃特镇警察局在一份声明中告诉ABC新闻,警方已经要求萨默塞特郡检察官办公室协助对该事件进行内部调查。
“我们认识到这个视频让我们社区的成员感到不安,并呼吁内部事务调查,”警方说,敦促任何人与执法部门分享该事件的额外视频。
当被美国广播公司问及是否对这些警察采取了任何行动时,警方没有回复置评请求。
萨默塞特郡检察官办公室副主任弗兰克·罗曼(Frank Roman Jr .)在一份声明中告诉美国广播公司新闻,萨默塞特郡检察官办公室内部事务股正在调查这起事件。
Kye的母亲Ebone告诉GMA3,她的儿子从公众那里得到的支持是“令人敬畏的”,但“他度过了一段非常艰难的时期”,正在寻求咨询。
“我们不能真的让他离开家,我们担心,你知道,他可能会遭到仇恨,”她说。
谷歌地图街景
这张截图来自谷歌地图街景,布里奇沃特公共购物中心..
克伦普说,家人希望警官们被追究责任。
“如果没有问责制,就没有威慑力,”他说。"我们不能在美国有两个司法系统."
当被问及他希望看到什么发生时,Kye说他希望警察被解雇。
“会有一些变化,所以我们不会因为肤色而受到不同的对待,”他说。
Black teen handcuffed in viral video of mall fight speaks out on police treatment
The 14-year-old who was handcuffed by police as they broke up a fight at a New Jersey mall is speaking out about the incident, whichprompted an internal investigationover the police's apparent treatment of the Black teen.
In a viral video of the incident, police are seen responding to a fight between the teen, Kye, and another teenager at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in New Jersey on Feb. 12, but after breaking up the fight, police only handcuffed Kye, who is Black.
Kye, who is only being identified by his first name at the request of his mother, told GMA3 that the experience has been "stressful" for him and he didn't expect his story to get national attention.
"It's been kind of weird thinking about, like, how I was treated differently based on the color of my skin," he said.
The video, which was taken by a bystander, appears to show the two teens arguing and then they begin to throw punches at each other. Kyetold New York ABC station WABCthat the fight started after the other teen began picking on Kye's friend and he stood up to him. Shortly after, two Bridgewater Township police officers arrived at the scene and broke up the altercation.
In the video, the female officer sits the other teen who exchanged punches on the sofa and then proceeds to assist the male officer in handcuffing Kye.
The other teenager involved in the fight sat on a couch watching as both police officers put their knees on Kye's back, the video showed.
Kye said he was held for about 30 minutes and was released without charges.
Ben Crump, the attorney representing Kye's family, told GMA3 "there's no question" that this incident is a case of "biased policing."
"We have ocular proof. I mean, you see it with your own eyes," Crump said, referring to the video.
The Bridgewater Township Police Department told ABC News in a statement that police have asked the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office to assist in an internal investigation of the incident.
"We recognize that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation," police said, urging anyone with additional videos of the incident to share them with law enforcement.
Asked by ABC News if any action has been taken regarding the officers, police did not return a request for comment.
Frank Roman Jr., deputy chief of the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, told ABC News in a statement that the incident is being investigated by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Internal Affairs Unit.
Asked if there are any updates, the prosecutor's office said Monday that the investigation is ongoing.
Kye's mother, Ebone, told GMA3 that the support her son has gotten from the public has been "awesome," but "he's had a really hard time" and is seeking counseling.
"We can't really get him out the house, we're worried about, you know, the hate that possibly can come to him," she said.
Crump said that the family wants the officers to be held accountable.
"If there's no accountability, there's no deterrent," he said. "We can't have two justice systems in America."
Asked what he wants to see happen, Kye said that he wants the officers to get fired.
"There's gonna be some type of change so we aren't treated differently because of the color of our skin," he said.