A video showing a white Lansing police officer handcuffing a Black child outside an apartment complex in Michigan went viral on social media, prompting the Lansing Police Department to issue a statement explaining the situation on Friday.
According to the department, the incident was an “unfortunate case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’”. The video captured on Thursday displays the officer leading the boy, with hands cuffed behind his back, across the parking lot of the apartment complex.
The Lansing Police Department revealed that the officer had been on the lookout for a suspect involved in multiple car thefts when he came across the boy. During a news conference on Friday, the boy was identified as 12-year-old Tashawn Bernard. At the time of the incident, Tashawn was in the process of disposing trash into a Dumpster. The family’s attorney noted that the approaching officer had his gun out and held it ahead of him.
The video, which lasted a few minutes, concluded with another officer freeing Tashawn from the handcuffs and conversing with him briefly. Afterwards, Tashawn joined his father on the sidewalk.
According to AP, Michael Bernard, Tashawn’s father, expressed his initial concern when his son didn’t return from taking out the trash in his usual time. Upon checking, he found his son surrounded by police and in handcuffs. Lawyers Ayanna and Rico Neal, representing the Bernard family, mentioned that the experience has left Tashawn deeply distressed, to the point where he is hesitant to venture outdoors.
A witness provided a description of the suspect’s attire, and subsequently, an individual matching this description was seen fleeing from an officer into an apartment complex, according to the police. Another officer, observing the child dressed in a remarkably similar outfit, detained him but released the child upon recognizing the mistake, the police noted.
The Bernard family’s legal team has mentioned that they’ve not been furnished with any further information from the police beyond what was disseminated on social media. They are currently “evaluating all legal avenues,” which encompasses “considering the initiation of a lawsuit,” the attorneys stated.
This is not just another incident; it’s a painful reminder that ‘walking while black’ is still a dangerous act in America. A child, only 12 years old, now carries the weight of racial profiling for merely taking out the trash. How many more Tashawns do we need to see traumatized before we acknowledge the deep-seated issues in our policing system? We are past due for transformative changes in law enforcement — not just band-aid solutions. Our community demands training and practices that see our children for who they are: innocent beings, deserving of protection and respect, not unwarranted suspicion.