A Brooklyn mother whose child was yanked from her arms by police in a viral video is speaking out.⠀⠀⠀
On Dec. 7, police tried to forcibly remove Jazmine Headley, 23, from a social services office, where she had been sitting on the floor for two hours due to a lack of chairs. Authorities were called after Headley refused to leave when a security guard asked her to. Headley said prior to being asked to leave, she was sitting on the ground with her back to the wall talking to her son, who was sitting in a stroller.
“I just remember being talked to very viciously,” she said. “It was more or less: ‘You’re going to do what I say, and that’s it.'” After police threatened to arrest her, that’s when Headley picked up her son and tried to leave. But, Headley was immediately grabbed by one of the security guards, and fell to the ground, police reported. At one point in the video, she can be heard screaming, “They’re hurting my son!”
Headley explained she made a second attempt to leave, but a police officer told her it was too late. “I should’ve left, and I didn’t because if I would’ve left, my son would not have the things that he needs,” Headley said. The two officers involved have since been put on modified duty. The office is currently reviewing how the officer treats people who are accompanied by children.
However, an NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau has concluded that police officers were not wrong for dragging her one-year-old from Headley. “The NYPD has conducted a strenuous review of what happened because the public deserves answers, and we must take every opportunity to continuously strengthen how the NYPD serves the people of New York City,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said in a statement. “This review shows that prior to the incident depicted on public video, NYPD officers are working with the client to de-escalate the situation.”
