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Aug 25, 2023

Lansing NAACP Council joins outcry over child's detainment

LANSING — A Lansing civil rights group joined the outcry over a widely publicized incident in which an innocent 12-year-old boy was briefly handcuffed and placed into the back of a police car after an

LANSING — A Lansing civil rights group joined the outcry over a widely publicized incident in which an innocent 12-year-old boy was briefly handcuffed and placed into the back of a police car after an officer mistook him for a car-theft suspect during a foot chase.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor and Police Chief Ellery Sosebee apologized in statements on Friday after a video clip of the incident went viral, characterizing it as an "unfortunate misunderstanding."

In a news release dated Aug. 12 and released Monday afternoon, the NAACP Lansing Youth Council called the incident "a harrowing example of excessive force" that "underscores the need for immediate reform."

The council called for Sosebee to attend a youth council meeting to address its concerns.

"We will not be silenced in the face of such injustice," youth council President Jazmine Yarborough-Blodgett said in the release. "Our youth council, representing the NAACP, is committed to holding those in power accountable. This incident is a disgraceful display of racial profiling, and it is our duty to demand justice, transparency, and the assurance that our community is safe."

Lansing police did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Monday afternoon.

The video was posted to TikTok and generated millions of views.

It appears to show a young, Black male wearing neon yellow shorts and a white T-shirt being detained by a police officer outside an apartment complex. A man tells officers they are traumatizing his son and the child was put into a police vehicle before later being released to his father.

The video is slightly more than four minutes long. It was not clear where in the city it was taken and police have not returned phone calls since Friday seeking more information.

Lansing police posted an initial explanation on its social media accounts earlier Friday, followed late Friday afternoon by statements from Schor and Sosebee.

"On Thursday afternoon, our officers were investigating a string of Kia thefts, including a specific one reported on the 3600 block of W. Jolly Road with multiple suspects," the first post on Facebook said. "A witness described a suspect as wearing neon shorts and a white shirt. A responding officer saw a subject matching this description and attempted to make contact but the subject fled and ran west in to the nearby apartment complex.

"A different officer was in the area and saw the young man pictured in the viral video wearing a very similar outfit and made contact with him. The initial officer was able to respond and clarify the young man in the video was not the suspect who fled earlier. Once this information was obtained, the young man was released and officers continued to search the area.

LPD called the incident a case of “wrong place, wrong time.”

And late Friday afternoon, Schor apologized to the 12-year-old and his family in a statement.

In a Zoom call with reporters on Friday night, lawyers for the family of Tashawn Bernard asked that police take down its initial Facebook response to the video, saying the photo makes it appear as though the shirt Tashawn was wearing was white, when it actually was gray. The suspect police were looking for was wearing a white shirt, they said.

Attorneys for the family said Tashawn was taking out the trash when he was approached by an officer holding a gun at his side. The boy was handcuffed and placed into the back of a police vehicle.

"Our client has been traumatized by this incident, so much so that young Tashawn does not want to go outside ... even to get the mail," attorney Rico Neal said.

The NAACP Lansing Youth Council said police should have gone to the boy's door to verify his story,

"As young activists, we stand united in our belief that such policing practices have no place in our city or anywhere else," Gabiella Stephens, the youth council's secretary, said in the release. "It is a fundamental right for every young person to feel safe in their community. We call upon law enforcement to undergo extensive training and establish open lines of communication to preven future unjust confrontations."

Contact Ken Palmer [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.