MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

NYPD slammed for 'arresting' 9-year-old from Museum of Natural History over vaccine card

While being escorted to a separate car, the girl can be seen crying. Some people who were recording the incident followed them, yelling about child abuse and traumatizing the girl.

According to multiple videos circulating on Twitter, a 9-year-old girl was among the group of protesters reportedly arrested by the police and removed from the Museum of Natural History in New York City for not having their vaccine cards.

NYPD officers are seen removing the group of people from the museum. In one of the videos which have gone viral on Twitter as well as Instagram, a man is heard shouting from the stairs as the people filming followed the police. One person can be heard saying “you are traumatizing a little child”. Another said, “This is fu**ing disgusting”.

While being escorted to a separate car, the girl can be seen crying. Some people who were recording the incident followed them, yelling about child abuse and traumatizing the girl.

READ MORE

Thomas Apollo: Crazy anti-vaxxer attacks Covid health staff at Families Together clinic

Is Starbucks chief anti-vaxxer? #BoycottStarbucks trends as vax mandate scrapped

Toward the end of the video, one man asked “what kind of future do we want for our children?”

He then added “just because she refused to show her papers … of her experimental gene therapy”. Oliya Scootercaster, a freelance journalist, shared the story on Twitter with photos and videos. She reported that the “mother of the child was placed under arrest, and the child was taken in a separate NYPD car, the child did not appear to be under arrest.”

Scootercaster added that approximately “2 hours prior to the arrests, as Protesters were inside the museum, the front entrance was closed. A man was trying to go in, but was stopped”.

Child identified as Jayla

The child has simply been identified on social media as Jayla. The video was also shared on Instagram by artist Jimmy Levy. He reported that “Joy, one of the incredible freedom fighters was denied the bathroom because she didn’t have the you know what. Mitch, another brave man in the group was forced to pee in a bottle”.

Levy noted that “the mother of 9 year old Jayla was arrested & they detained Jayla and took her in a separate car but freed her at the station while her mom was inside”. Sharing a video of her exiting the police station, he wrote, "We are so proud of you Jayla! Stay strong for all of us! She is doing ok, I just spoke to her incredible mom Maria! Everyone else is ok too!” he captioned the video.

'Police that do this deserve no one's support'

The videos drew mixed reactions from people on Twitter. While many people were outraged at the police, there were those who commented saying that the police were only doing their duty. 

"Police that do this deserve no one's support," one of them said, while another commented, "This can’t be true. I know things have gone bat sh*t crazy but there has to be something else going on here. Please? Please tell me that." A third noted, "New York - armed robbery a misdemeanor No penalty for turnstile jumping Decriminalize theft But arrest a 9 year old child in a museum for no vaccine card?" The next remarked, "The blue have to do this or lose their jobs. Not knowing their circumstances I won’t judge. It’s the people in power….elected officials that are to be held accountable." 

One more stated, "I pity and pray for police officers expected to do that today. That said, we don’t back the blue on that. Appropriate to back the blue down on that. Sooner the better." A commenter tweeted, "Where are her parents???? Why was she even there????" Another stated, "Seriously? How long are New Yorkers going to put up with this?" A person reacted with, "Wtf? How long until the cops realize they're the bad guys here?"