Police Defend Chasing Down Innocent 5th Grader With Guns Drawn
When police mistakenly identified 10-year-old Legend Preston as a robbery suspect early this month, they chased him through his Newark neighborhood with their guns drawn. The fifth grader was unarmed, playing basketball, and didn’t match the description of the suspect cops were looking for, but authorities maintain there was no wrongdoing.
On August 11, moments after Preston’s basketball rolled into the street, he turned and ran as fast as he could when he looked up and saw armed Newark officers running towards him. He didn’t know at the time that officers thought he was an armed robber in his 20s, although he was certain they were going to kill him. But before anything could happen, neighbors intervened by forming a blockade around him and confronting the officers for chasing down a kid.
“I ran because they thought that I rolled the ball into the street on purpose, and they were just holding shot guns at me trying to shoot me,” Preston told WABC-TV.
A police spokesman reported that the officers had their guns drawn but weren’t pointing at Preston. The boy’s mother, Patisha Solomon, said the officers told witnesses that the short-haired, clean-shaven 10-year-old fit the description of the suspect — a 20-year-old man that has facial hair and dreadlocks. When the officers realized their mistake and caught the actual suspect on another street, they didn’t apologize, Solomon added.
https://thinkprogress.org/police-union-president-stands-by-officers-who-pointed-gun-at-10-year-old-b944cd75c441#.iu2yg2q9m
any guesses as to the race of this child?
= new reply since forum marked as read
