A viral video has been circulating of D.C. police officers handcuffing a 10-year-old boy over the weekend, sparking outrage on social media. In the video, a woman is heard shouting, “He is not resisting! That is not OK!”
A boy reported that three other children assaulted him at gunpoint and took his cellphone before running off. Soon after, police caught two boys, a 10-year-old and a 13-year-old, who were positively identified as being a part of the robbery and found with had a BB gun and the stolen cellphone in the 13-year-old’s possession.
However, Attorney General Karl Racine said in a news release that his office reviewed multiple surveillance videos from the crime scene and “are now certain that there is no evidence that the 10-year-old boy played a role in the armed robbery. He is totally innocent.” The child will not be facing any charges.
The boy’s mother, Chaquitta Williams said, “I just had to cry. It just hurt my feelings so bad to see my son put in handcuffs at the age of 10.” She said the experience had traumatized her son. “He couldn’t even sleep last night. His mind was just so rumbling,” she said.
Police previously said they didn’t realize that Williams’ son was so young. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department said, “After the identification process, officers realized one of the suspects was ten years old and, per general order, they made notifications to their official who then notified Youth and Family Services (YFSD). After consideration, it was determined the ten-year-old would not be summarily arrested on the scene and that a custody order would be applied for by the investigating detective.”
Attorney General Racine said, “We owe it to the young victim of this crime to hold the people who hurt him accountable. We also owe it to the 10-year-old who was incorrectly identified as an armed robber to set the record straight,” Racine said. “I am speaking to you today to publicly exonerate this young person and to stress the importance of the laws which protect the confidentiality of all of the young people involved in our justice system—both victims and offenders.”
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