11-Year-Old Black Girl Handcuffed in Case of Mistaken Identity by Syracuse Deputies [Video]

An 11-year-old Black girl was left in tears Monday after being wrongfully detained and handcuffed by deputies in Syracuse, New York.

Video

The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that two deputies stopped the young girl on the street, claiming she matched the description of a suspect involved in a car theft earlier that day.

The deputies stated the suspect was a girl wearing a pink coat and camouflage-style pants, a description they believed fit the detained girl. Cell phone footage, posted online by the girl’s mother, shows the child standing in the snow, visibly shaken, as deputies question her and insist she resembles the person they were looking for.

After being held for over six minutes, deputies ultimately determined the young girl was not the suspect and released her, but not before an emotional exchange that sparked outrage in the community.

The incident was captured on two cell phone videos, reportedly filmed by a friend of the detained girl. In the video, the girl and her friends are heard telling deputies they had been playing in the snow after school and had no involvement in any crime. They also explained that the 11-year-old could not have stolen a car because she had just returned from a school field trip earlier that day.

Despite their pleas, one of the deputies insisted that the detained girl fit the description. At one point, the deputy even showed a dashcam photo of the actual suspect and accused the girl of lying about her identity.

“You’re going to tell me this isn’t you?” the deputy asked, holding the photo. However, the girl’s friends quickly pointed out key differences, such as the shoes and skin tone of the girl in the photo compared to their friend.

Even with these clear differences, another deputy arrived on the scene and falsely identified the girl as the suspect. The 11-year-old began crying as the officers prepared to take her to a police cruiser, but after further review, the deputies realized she was not the person they were looking for.

The video ends with the girl’s friends hugging her as she cries, visibly shaken by the encounter. The children, understandably upset, called the incident unfair and pointed out the racial dynamics at play.

Thomas Newton, a spokesperson for the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, declined to comment on the incident, stating a formal press release would be issued later.