On Sunday night, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump uploaded footage from a 2018 incident on Twitter.

The police had been called to the boy’s school, Gerald Adams Elementary, after the child had allegedly  threatened and punched his teacher in the chest. The body camera footage depicts a police officer patting down and putting handcuffs on the 8-year-old child in Key West, Florida. In addition to this, the video shows the little boy being lectured and escorted out of the school by the police. What is more, Daily Mail has reported that the child was later booked into a juvenile justice facility.

According to NBC News, the attorney explained that the boy was a special needs student who had an individualized education plan as a result of his disabilities. Crump has further commented on the incident and the boy’s arrest, stating:

Instead of honoring and fulfilling that plan, the school placed him with a substitute teacher who had no awareness or concern about his needs and who escalated the situation by using her hands to forcibly move him. […] When he acted out, the teacher called the police, who threatened him with jail and tried to put him in handcuffs, which fell off because he was too little.

The footage reveals how flawed both the education and policing systems are.

The Key West Police Chief Sean T. Brandenburg reportedly explained that the officers had not done anything wrong as he said, “Based on the report, standard operating procedures were followed.”

Nevertheless, the video of the boy’s arrest has caused outrage almost immediately after attorney Benjamin Crump uploaded it online. Former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro commented on the 2018 incident as he tweeted:

In addition to the US politician, another Twitter user criticized the Key West Police and the child’s school as they wrote:

The arrest occurred on December 14, 2018 and the status of the boy’s criminal case is currently unclear.

 

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