Video released after police accused of pointing guns at 11 year old with BB gun

[Lee-Lee]

Initially a post was put on social media with a video that only showed a period after the initial contact with police.

The following statement was posted along with the bystander’s video recording.

“Very disturbing video. This happened in Spartanburg SC. We were told that this 11 year old boy was playing outside, throwing rocks when the police pulled up with guns drawn. He was eventually handcuffed behind his back and put into a patrol car. This little boy makes good grades, plays basketball, football, baseball and runs track. He also has been a participant in the Omega Camp for four years in a row. Our question for Spartanburg City Police Office is....does your policing policy include pulling out guns on and handcuffing 11 year old kids??? And yes, we saw the lady pick up the orange tip toy gun from the grass...we were told he was handcuffed because of rocks that were thrown...not because of a very obvious toy gun.”

So the department released the body camera footage. You can see it here:

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.wyff4.com/article/police-release-video-after-social-media-post-claims-officer-drew-gun-on-11-year-old/10277879

In fact the officer clearly never drew his firearm.

Just a other example of why you should never get outraged over social media posts or other accusations of police misconduct that have no evidence. That person clearly felt the need to exaggerate and lie to make the police look bad. Maybe it was for the attention they received for it. Maybe it was because they want to create more distrust and a deeper divide between the police and the community.

Whatever their motivations, had this not been countered with body camera footage it would have served to just create deeper and worse mistrust in that community between the police and the residents, and those kind of inflammatory lies would have done just that had it. It been for body camera footage and the departments willingness to quickly release it.

Remember, just because someone says it doesn't make it true. Had people kept this in mind after Keith Lamont Scott was shot in Charlotte instead of rioting based on his wife and families statements that turned out to be lies we wouldn't have seen riots, another person shot and killed, many injured and many arrested. And all those various activist groups in Charlotte that went after the CMPD after the shooting wouldn't have lost credibility in the community and with the PD had they waited for facts instead of acting on lies.

I'm not saying don't criticize the police when they are wrong. I am saying don't jump the gun. Don't act based on lies or statements of random people with no evidence to back them up. Now from this video if you want to question if it's good policy to cuff the child in this case, that's a random debate and worth having. But when you have to add lies about the police drawing guns in a child you are no longer debating, you are just intentionally stirring hatred and inciting violence and division and have ruined any chance for discussion on the legitimate issues.

[woolldog]

1. He handcuffs an 11 year old kid

after the kid complies with his order and drops the bb gun. Ridiculous. That child was no threat.

[YCHDT]

2. Right, they still went to far for no damn good reason guns drawn or not.

[Lee-Lee]

3. Agreed. I will be their agency policy is anyone in the car must be cuffed

Most agencies require anyone placed in the back seat to be cuffed. There should be better policies that address how children are handled.

But that discussion isn't happening now in that community because the person who wanted to draw attention to it had to make up lies about the incident, so instead the focus is just on the lies and the department having to fight against them and correct the record.

[LiberalArkie]

4. I remember as a little kid having a shootout with a police officer.

I pulled my cap pistol out of my holster and he pulled his hand out making like his hand was a gun. He was slower than me of course and acted like I had shot him.

Oh, the 50's in middle America.

[aikoaiko]

5. I'll play Devil's Advocate again.

The video does not definitively show that the officer did not unholster his weapon. It does not show the officers' hands from the time they leave the steering wheel and to the time he instructs him to turn around and handcuffs him which is when it probably would have happened.

Handcuffing the child for "his safety and the officer's safety" is total BS and cuffing the mother "because of her mouth" is BS and more good examples of escalating the situation that could have provoked more use of force.

eta: I'm not saying the officer did draw his weapon - just pointing out the limitation of the video as provided. And I'm not saying what he did wasn't allowable by policy, but he didn't have to cuff and stuff the kid or cuff the mother. Both were provocative and escalated the situation where if either had reacted he could have used force that would have further escalated the situation.

[Hoyt]

6. Well, I suppose this is a lot better than shooting the kid on sight. But I'd like to see

the bystander video for a different perspective.

My late father-in-law was a policeman, and seemingly a pretty good one. He'd see stuff like this on TV and say, "Hard to tell what actually happened, but that just doesn't look good."

This sure beats that incident in Cleveland where they just executed the kid without a seconds thought.

I agree with waiting for facts, but too often we have waited too long.