The police only handcuffed the Black teenager and threw him on the ground.
The US police’s response to a fight between two teenagers at a mall has drawn outrage on social media.
A video, which has gone viral now, showed the two teenagers arguing before beginning to punch each other at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in New Jersey.
Two police officers arrived at the scene and broke up the altercation.
However, the officers only handcuffed the Black teenager, who was identified as an eighth grader named Kye, and threw him on the ground.
The female police officer put her knee on the Black teenager’s neck as the male officer was handcuffing him.
The other teenager, who exchanged punches, was not handcuffed and the female officer appeared to be talking to him on a sofa.
People filming the incident can be heard saying: “It’s because he is black. Racially motivated.”
READ MORE: Why are African Americans subject to more police violence?
The New Jersey Bridgewater Mall Fight is the clearest example of how police actively use race as a shorthand for who they perceive as a threat.
— The Truth Patriot🇺🇸 (@USAlight3) February 17, 2022
See for yourself. pic.twitter.com/dHmryaxfx0
Investigation launched
Kye, 14, told NBC New York that the dispute started when he stood up to the other boy, who is older, for picking on his friend.
“He was kind of saying, like, ‘You’re a little kid, you’re my little pet,’ and stuff like that,” Kye said.
An internal investigation has been launched by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Internal Affairs Unit, according to ABC News.
Police also asked the public to share any additional video with law enforcement if they have one.
Back in 2020, George Floyd’s death caught on a bystander’s cell phone triggered worldwide demonstrations, some violent, and led to a nationwide reckoning on race and policing in the US.
READ MORE: Why police brutality persists in the US
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