Viral Video Shows Syracuse Police Officers Detaining Young Black Child For Allegedly Stealing Chips [Video]

A viral video shows officers from the Syracuse Police Department detaining a Black child.

The Syracuse Police Department in Syracuse, New York, has launched an investigation into a video that shows at least three police officers arresting an 8-year-old Black boy. The video, recorded by someone who appears to be a passerby, begins with one officer holding the child’s hands behind his back and guiding him to the car. The child can be seen crying and yelling while witnesses watch. Another child that seems to be around the same age as the other child can also be seen watching the police make the arrest.

Throughout the video, the person recording questions the police about why they are arresting the child. One cop tells the video recorder that he doesn’t know what’s happening. Another cop enters the video frame and says, “He’s stealing stuff. How about he breaks in your house and steals something and steals something —”but the man recording cuts him off and says, “What steal a bag of chips? So, y’all treat me like cold-blooded f*cking killer?” The officer then tells the man “to keep walking.”

In the video, the man recording also says that the child said it wasn’t him who was stealing; he then offered to pay for the item the child allegedly stole. The video ends with officers putting the child in a cop car while the boy continues to cry.

ABC 7 New York reports that police claim they never handcuffed the child, and he was never brought to the police station, nor was he charged.

“There is some misinformation involving this case,” Syracuse Police said in a statement, the news outlet reports. “The juvenile suspected of larceny was not placed in handcuffs. He was placed in the rear of a patrol unit, where he was directly brought home. Officers met with the child’s father, and no charges were filed.”

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh hasn’t disclosed any information on whether or not the officers will receive punishment in the incident. However, he stated that the situation “demonstrates the continuing need for the city to provide support to our children and families and to invest in alternative response options to assist our officers.”