Disturbing footage has now been released of the September 2019 arrest of a black 6-year-old girl by an Orlando Florida police officer.
According to a WESH report, Orlando Police officer Dennis Turner walked into Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy and arrested 6-year-old Kaia Rolle on September 19, 2019, alleging that the child had assaulted several school employees and was reported by a staff member who was looking to press charges and testify against her in court. The distraught child was then marched to a police car, with her wrists zip-tied.
However, school staff refutes the officer’s claims, stating that they had never wanted the child arrested.
“We care about the well-being of our students. The officer’s statements are inaccurate. We did not ask for either student to be arrested, neither did we want to pursue criminal charges,” a school spokesperson stated.
Body camera footage that has just been released shows the officer putting the zip ties on the girl’s wrists with her arms behind her back as she asks, “What are those for?” followed by multiple pleas. “Don’t put handcuffs on,” and “Help me, help me; please help me.” School employees are also seen crying as the child walked with her hands tied behind her back. The child is then heard crying, “Please let me go,” and “I don’t want to go in the police car,” to which Turner responds that she “had to” before proceeding to place her in the back seat of the vehicle.
Just days after the disturbing incident, Turner arrested yet another 6-year-old in a separate case. Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon fired Turner a week later.
“As a grandfather of three children less than 11 years old, I can only imagine how traumatic this was for everyone involved. We were all appalled. We could not fathom the idea of a 6-year-old being put in the back of a police car,” Rolon said in a statement.
