A TikTok video showing a 12-year-old black boy getting arrested by the police is raising eyebrows. The child was taken into custody and charged with riding a bike recklessly in North Carolina. The video that has gained significant traction is making people question whether the arrest was really necessary.
The video shot and posted to the platform by a bystander has sparked a debate in the comments section. The clip shows the 12-year-old sitting in the back seat of a police car with handcuffs on.
“[If] they recklessly drive into traffic, hitting cars, we try to stop them,” a police officer is heard explaining in the clip. He goes on to add how the authorities seize the bike, which prevents the offender from taking off.
“Doesn’t matter if they’re a kid, it’s still illegal, right?” the police officer can be heard reasoning. The child, on the other hand, continues to stay in the back seat of the car. In the video, he can be heard reciting his mother’s number and asking the people witnessing the situation to call her.
One of the spectators questions the child’s arrest while questioning whether the arrest is really necessary. “So if he ain’t hit no car, it should’ve been a warning,” the individual is heard asking. The officer is heard countering while explaining that it is “not how it works.”
“That’s how it should’ve been … that’s a minor,” the man shooting the video argues. He goes on to repeat how it should have been a warning that the 12-year-old boy received instead of being handcuffed and arrested.
Another person present at the scene asks why the child is being contained in the back of the cop car. “Did he hit a car?” the person shooting the video asks. The officer present at the scene explains that he did not have to hit a car and was simply arrested for recklessly driving.
The child’s mother, who was later interviewed by WBTV, narrated how her son, who was on a “rideout with his friends, faced arrest. “My son went downtown to a park, to a bike area, they have bike lanes,” Jasmine Ervin noted.
She shared how the area has busy sidewalks and streets. “We barely got speed bumps,” the mother of the boy added. She also shared how the cops tried to follow and stop the group of children while her son tried to evade the police because he was understandably scared.
“They absolutely did go too far. He’s 12, he’s 89 pounds,” Ervin said while noting how it was unnecessary for the authorities to arrest her son. She went on to share how her son’s innocence is “just gone” following the incident.
“That was something he didn’t have to experience, he didn’t have to go through,” the mother added. The boy was charged with reckless driving and released on the same day of his arrest.
And why does it matter what his skin color is? Trying to play the race card, obviously.
His innocence ia gone? Wow. Dramatic much? He probably should have been given a warning, but I highly doubt he’s been scarred for life. Holy shit. Keep the brat out of traffic before he gets killed or causes an accident.