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Video of police officers detaining a crying 8-year-old over stolen Doritos corn chips angered activists in Syracuse, New York, but the mayor said that activists were missing important information.
Cellphone video of the incident shows a bystander cursing out the police and accusing them of being too aggressive over a bag of chips.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh in a joint media briefing with the Syracuse Police Department addressed the outrage on Thursday and released footage from the police officers’ body cameras.
The extra footage of the incident showed a police officer holding onto the child while he cries and screams. In the officer’s hand is a bag of Doritos.
At one point, another boy tries to grab the child away from the officer but he is able to hold on to him. Then he makes him sit in the police car.
Police officers later talked to the boy’s father for about twenty minutes before letting the boy go.
The Police Department said that they have had to respond to calls about the boy and his brothers many times and that they know them by their first names. The incident is under investigation.
The father of the four boys is angry and says that the police should not have treated the child the way they did.
Syracuse Police Department First Deputy Chief Joseph Cecile said that the officers took time to engage with the family of the boy and said it was an example of “community policing 101.”
He added, “Everyone would love to have positive interactions with children. But oftentimes we are the only ones around and the only ones responding when these incidents happen.”
Mayor Walsh said that the community should resist the urge to jump to conclusions about the incident.
“We want these positive interactions,” he added.
The original video garnered over 6 million views on Twitter alone.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
[embedded content] 8-Year-Old NY Boy Accused of Stealing Chips, What Cops Did to Him Sparked Outrage | NBC New York www.youtube.com
Source: TheBlaze
