Footage from the horrific arrest of a child in 2018 has many people calling for answers. The footage shows an 8-year-old boy with special needs being arrested by officers. The student was arrested after punching a teacher at Gerald Adams Elementary in Key West, Florida. He was just 3 feet, 5 inches tall at the time of the incident, weighing 64 pounds.
The video shows officers engaging in an attempt to scare the child straight. The approach is often used with juvenile offenders to keep them from committing crimes in the future. Not only did it fail in this instance, but it also traumatized the student in the process.
Despite the fact this happened two years ago, it recently became a subject of public interest. Attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, shared the video on Twitter. He has since announced he is one of two attorneys representing the child's mother. They are filing a civil suit against police officers involved in the arrest; a teacher, the principal, and assistant principal at the elementary school; Monroe County, and the city of Key West.
Police bodycam footage showing the arrest of an 8-year-old boy has shocked many people. The incident occurred in Key West, Florida. The officers came to arrest the boy at Gerald Adams Elementary School in December 2018.
The special needs 8-year-old boy was in trouble after an incident where he struck a teacher. The footage shows two officers asking the boy, "Do you know where you're going?"
His answer isn't audible, so they explain. "Jail, you're going to jail, so you need to stand up."
They instruct the boy to put his hands on a filing cabinet in the room. Then, they perform a pat-down search of his person. One officer then asks the boy to put his hands behind his back. He attempts to handcuff the 3-foot-5, 64-pound child before discovering the cuffs fall off his small wrists.
Another officer instructs the boy to keep his hands in front of him. The little boy cries as the officers march him out of the school. An officer then lectures the child as a teacher tries to comfort him.
"You understand this is very serious, okay? And I hate that you put me in this position, and I have to do this," the officer says.
"The thing about it is that you made a mistake and you have to learn from it and grow from it and not repeat the same mistake again."
The video ends with the boy being escorted toward a squad car. The arrest report indicates the child wasn't sitting properly in his cafeteria bench seat. A teacher asked him to correct himself several times before telling the boy to come and sit next to her.
The report says the boy refused and then told the teacher, "Don't put your hands on me."
She asked the child to walk with her and he refused again. He replied, "My mom is going to beat your [expletive]." Then he punched her with his right hand. The little boy was charged with felony battery.
Officer Michael Malgrat was in the school's administrative office when the boy and his teacher came in. In his report, he wrote that the boy "had his hands clenched in fists and he was postured as if he was ready to fight."
Key West Police Chief Sean T. Brandenburg defended his officers in a statement, noting, "Based on the report, standard operating procedures were followed."
Attorney Ben Crump shared the video on Twitter late Sunday evening. "Unbelievable!! @KWPOLICE used 'scared straight' tactics on 8yo boy with special needs," he tweeted.
"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!"
On Tuesday, Ben announced he would be one of the attorneys representing the boy's mother in a civil suit. Bianca N. Digennaro wants police officers involved in the arrest, a teacher, the principal and assistant principal at the elementary school, Monroe County, and the city of Key West to be held responsible for what happened to her son. She said that he has incurred additional psychological injury as a result of the incident.
"My son has a disability and the authorities tried to make him a criminal," she said in the virtual press conference.
"I'm here for my son, because I refuse to let them make him a convicted felon at the age of 8, just because he was having a mental breakdown. A psychological evaluation concluded that he was simply having a temper tantrum."
"He's been diagnosed with severe ADHD, oppositional defiance disorder, depression, and anxiety for a long time. And everybody knew this," she continued.
Bianca explained that she couldn't be there to protect her son at the time because she was in the process of having a 6.5-pound tumor removed.
Bianca said her son was taken to an adult jail. He was fingerprinted and had his mouth swabbed. He also had his mugshot taken. "My 8-year-old son has a mugshot out there and has DNA out there," she stressed.
She also shared that he was put in a jail cell. While she didn't note how long he was held that way, she pointed out that it doesn't really matter. Whether it was a few minutes or a few hours, the trauma was just as devastating to the young boy.
Bianca said that she had to work hard to get the charges against her son dropped. Ben noted this as another failing of the criminal justice system.
"At 8 years old, he was born an American citizen and he has a right to all the constitutional guarantees of any citizen," he said.
Devon Jacob, who will also represent Bianca, slammed the officer's actions in a statement.
"As a former police officer, I am appalled by the conduct of these officers," Devon said.
"Their actions and treatments of this young boy, aside from being inappropriate, deviate from widely accepted police procedures regarding the treatment of minors and disabled persons."
