Maryland cops handcuff and threaten to spank boy, 5, in shocking bodycam video, call him 'violent little thing'
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND: Reports indicate that newly released footage from a police body camera sees officers detaining a minor boy of 5 years old. He reportedly left his school in Maryland and was later in handcuffs, with officers saying, "he should be beaten and spanked." The footage was released this past Friday, and sees "two Montgomery County Police officers responding to a call from East Silver Spring Elementary School" because a child had run away – this occurred on January 14, 2020.
ABC News reported that the released video also showed when officers first found the child "leaning against a car in a residential area and an officer kneeling down to talk to him." The officer talking to the child is heard saying, "You feel like you can make your own decisions? Are you an adult? Are you 18? So why are you out of school? don't care if you don't want to go to school. You do not have that choice, do you understand?"
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'She's going to spank you today'
Disturbingly, the footage also sees the officer grab the child's arm which made him cry. A school employee reportedly held the child's hand and said she would ride with him in the police vehicle back to his school. When the child started to cry when in the backseat of the car, the cop is heard saying, "You better stop. I don't want to hear it." The 5-year-old screams, "I don't want to go!" Then a female officer is reportedly heard saying, "Does your mother spank you? …She's going to spank you today. I'm going to ask her if I can do it." Meanwhile, the male cop also called the child a "violent little thing."
Furthermore, the footage also has audio of the officers talking about how the child should be disciplined using words such as "whoopings" and "spankings". ABC News reported that the female officer had also said that the child be put in a crate. The end of the video sees him handcuffed with his mother present. The male officer holding handcuffs is heard saying, "When you get older, when you want to make your own decisions, you know what's going to be your best friend? These right here." He added, "These are for people who don't want to listen and don't know how to act. Is that how you want to live your life?"
AGAIN, TRIGGER WARNING the you tube link below is very hard to watch. https://t.co/jNUFHOBCCK
— Will Jawando (@willjawando) March 26, 2021
'The event should have been handled better by all involved'
As per the publication, the child's family has already filed a lawsuit in January against the officers that were part of the incident, along with the county and the Montgomery County Board of Education. "The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and claims the child suffered 'severe and extreme emotional distress,'" revealed ABC. Matthew Bennett and James Papirmeister, were the lawyers that filed the said suit, and told ABC News, "Our client, Shanta Grant, brought this lawsuit on behalf of her then five-year-old son in an effort to get justice and fair compensation for the trauma he endured. She also hopes that the incident will lead to changes in policy and training, both with the school and the police." The officers are reportedly still "employed by the force" and while the Montgomery County Police Department revealed that an investigation is being held, the "findings are confidential under Maryland law."
"It is clear, that the event and everything that has come after the event should have been handled better by all involved. It's important to note that unless an officer is assigned to a specialized unit, Montgomery County police officers do not receive training on how to effectively communicate with a young child in distress," said The Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 statement. Montgomery County Public Schools Board President Brenda Wolff and Superintendent Jack Smith added, "It was extremely difficult for us to watch the video of the incident involving a 5-year-old student at East Silver Spring Elementary School. Our heart aches for this student. There is no excuse for adults to ever speak to or threaten a child in this way."
Some were very heated at how the officers handled the situation with Councilmember Will Jawando asking that they be fired, "You just see his body language is trembling because his face is blurred out obviously in the video, but the yelling in his face while administrators stood by ... putting a handcuff on him, telling him he's gonna be in jail, just everything was wrong," he said.