Athens, Georgia police officers are being investigated for a disturbing video uploaded to Facebook earlier this week, according to TheGrio. The video shows local police pinning down a 10-year-old black boy in front of his family.
Ariel Collins posted the clip on Facebook, which you can watch above, and it’s already moving online with more than 15,000 shares and over 450,000 views. The incident reportedly took place on July 20, and in the video you can see two offices holding the shirtless boy to the ground with his arm behind his back.
The Athens-Clarke County Police Department released a press release claiming the child allegedly “lunged at one of the officers” after trying to speak to his father. Before the incident, the boy’s father had been arrested on a domestic violence charge, and was a suspect sitting in the back of their patrol vehicle.
Body cam footage of the encounter was also released. Check it out below:
An officer reportedly “caught the child in mid-air and the momentum allegedly caused both the officer and the child to land on the patrol car,” the police department’s statement said.
The child was understandably distraught about his father’s situation, but instead of allowing the boy’s family to comfort the child, officers claim they chose to “place him on the ground.” As you can see in the video, the interaction looks more forceful than “placing.”
In a statement, the police also claim they were trying to “de-escalate” the situation by “assuring the child was not under arrest and that we would let him up if he would remain calm.”
ACC Police Chief Scott Freeman announced Monday that the video has launched an internal investigation.
