Texas officer on restricted duty after videotaped arrests
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/12/23/texas-officer-restricted-duty-after-videotaped-arrests/95783018/
A white police officer in Texas was placed on restricted duty Thursday after a viral video surfaced on Facebook showing him wrestling a black woman after she called police to report that a man had allegedly assaulted her young son.
Forth Worth Police, who have not released the name of the officer, said they are conducting an internal investigation which also resulted in the arrest of the woman's two teenage daughters. The man the woman accused of assaulting her 7-year-old son was not arrested,
"We acknowledge that the initial appearance of the video may raise serious questions," the Forth Worth Police department statement said in a statement. "We ask that our investigators are given the time and opportunity to thoroughly examine the incident and to submit their findings."
In the video, the officer approaches Jacqueline Craig, who complained to the officer that a man had “grabbed and choked” her son for littering, according to the woman’s relatives. Relatives said that a neighbor grabbed the boy by the neck in an attempt to get him to pick up the trash.
During the conversation, the officer is heard asking Craig, "why don't you teach your son not to litter?" Craig says regardless of whether her son littered, the man did not have the right to “put his hands on him.” The officer says, “Why not?”
The officer engages Craig in a conversation that quickly escalates. He asks why she hadn’t taught her son not to litter. Craig says regardless of whether the boy littered, the man, who is white, did not have the right to “put his hands on him.” The officer says, “Why not?”
As the argument escalates, one of Craig’s daughters tries to push her mother away, but the officer forces Craig and the teen to the ground. He points a stun gun into Craig’s back and then at her daughter when she tries to approach.
Warning: Video contains graphic language
The attorney for the family, Lee Merritt said that the officer "physically, violently, and brutally escalated the situation” and added that the man who allegedly assaulted the 7-year-old should have been placed under arrest.
"She was questioned about why she did not teach her son not to litter,” Merritt says. He said he plans to “request the prosecutor pursue charges” against the man.
Thomas Glover, president of the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, looked at the video and told News 8 he is disgusted and disappointed.
“The citizens ought to be outraged, the city council, the mayor, the city manager," Glover told News 8. "Anywhere it happens, it damages the strides we’ve made in bridging the gap, either real or perceived, that persists between the black community and police departments. And this is a big stain."
The video, viewed more than 1.1 million times, was posted on Facebook by a woman identified by The Dallas Morning News as Craig’s niece.
The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said in a statement Thursday that she’s disappointed the officer is being given 48 hours to prepare a report on the incident.
“This incident and countless others like them demonstrate that for people of color, showing anything less than absolute deference to police officers — regardless of the circumstances — can have unjust and often tragic consequences,” executive director Terri Burke said. “This fundamental injustice is also a threat to public safety.
"If a Black woman in Fort Worth can’t call the cops after her son is allegedly choked by a neighbor without getting arrested, why would she ever call the cops again?”