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Florida cop handcuffs special needs boy, 8, at school for punching teacher, tells him 'you're going to jail'

The video went viral after it was shared by attorney Ben Crump who represents the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery

KEY WEST, FLORIDA: A shocking and harrowing video surfaced on Monday where police officers were seen trying to handcuff an eight-year-old boy at his elementary school. The child was also told that he would be "going to jail". The body camera footage taken from the officers has now been released. The incident had taken place on December 14, 2018, at the Gerald Adams Elementary in Key West, Florida, and features two police officers sitting in front of the child who is believed to have special needs.

The child had reportedly punched a teacher in the chest and had been arrested on a felony battery charge, as per the arrest report. The name of the child was not been listed in the report due to his young age. The video started to go viral and sparked outrage online after it was shared by attorney Ben Crump who represents the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery on Monday, August 10.

Crump took to Twitter to share, "Unbelievable!! @KWPOLICE used "scared straight" tactics on 8yo boy with special needs. He's 3.5 ft tall and 64 lbs, but they thought it was appropriate to handcuff and transport him to an adult prison for processing!! He was so small the cuffs fell off his wrists!"

It has been reported that the 'scared straight' strategy is used to scare juvenile offenders away from a life of crime by placing them in adult prisons for a while to expose them to what going to jail actually means. The child was not sent to any adult prison in this case but the officers had tried to put him in handcuffs and had told him that he would be going to jail.

In the video, one of the officers can be heard, saying, "You’re going to jail. So you need to stand up and put your hands behind your back." An officer then frisks the child while he places his hands against the cabinet. The child is then put in handcuffs, which don't fit as he is too young. 

The child can be heard wimpering and crying as he is walked out of the school. An officer tells the child, "You understand this is very serious okay and I hate that you put me in this position and I have to do this. The thing about it is that you made a mistake and you have to learn from it and grow from it and not repeat the same mistake again."

Social media users have been left outraged by the video and took to commenting on the same. One such user shared, "F*cking monsters. They traumatized this child forever. Just made him believe that he is bad and irredeemable. Way to set him on a good, positive, healthy path in life."

Another added, "Your hands are too small! That should be the first clue that this child is being mistreated and his civil rights are being violated. What state or school district allows this?"

The arrest report states that the teacher had asked the boy to sit down many times but he did not and so she asked him to sit near her. He did not want to do so and told her, 'Don’t put your hands on me', the Daily Mail reveals. The teacher then told the child to walk with her and said, "My mom is going to beat your a**" after which he punched her. 

Officer Michael Malgrat had written in the report that he was in the school's administrative office, when both the teacher and child arrived. The boy 'had his hands clenched in fists and he was postured as if he was ready to fight'.

Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro also shared the video and slammed the incident. Castro wrote, "Police in Key West tried to put an 8-year-old boy in handcuffs and transport him to jail to "scare him straight." Police should have no role in punishing our kids or pulling traumatic stunts like this in our schools."