The Syracuse Police Department is under fire after a viral video video in which a trio of officers are seen detaining a young child and placing him in the squad car, leading to an internal review.
The man who recorded the video, identified as Kenneth Jackson, said officers detained the 8-year-old boy for allegedly stealing a bag of potato chips.
Here you can see the full video.
Jackson recorded the incident after police apprehended the boy at a store on the north side of town.
The just over four minute clip has been shared thousands of times on Facebook and other social media platforms.
“What are you doing?” Jackson is heard asking an officer holding the boy by the arms as he cries desperately and clearly frightened.
“Guess. Guess what I’m doing,” the officer replies.
Jackson goes on to ask the officers to explain why they are holding the boy.
Another officer tells Jackson that the boy “was stealing things.”
Jackson interrupts the officer and says, “So he’s stealing a bag of chips and that’s why you’re treating him like a cold-blooded killer?”
The four-minute, 19-second video gets increasingly tense from there. Jackson starts cursing at the officers as they load the boy into the patrol car.
The boy’s father, Anthony Weah, told the Post-Standard that police came to his home after the incident and told him that his three sons were accused of stealing the chips.
Weah said the cops were friendly and didn’t press charges, but he was surprised when he saw the video on social media later.
“Why would the police treat that child like this? Just for a $3 bag of chips,” Weah told the news outlet.
Attention to the case prompted Syracuse police to release a statement Tuesday saying the video contained “misinformation.”
The uniformed officer said that the boy was not handcuffed and that they only put him in the patrol car to take him home, where the officers spoke with the father. The boy was not charged with any crime.
Police also said the boy was not injured and no force other than placing him in the squad car was used. All three officers involved were wearing body cameras, which are being reviewed, and will remain on duty during that process.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said he contacted Police Chief Kenton Buckner when he learned of the video.
“The officer knew the child from previous interactions,” Mayor Walsh said in a statement. “He explained that they would take him home. The officers returned the boy to his family and discussed the incident with his father before leaving without filing charges. What has transpired demonstrates the continued need for the city to support our children and families and invest in alternative response options to help our officers.”
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