fbpx

‘Please Let Me Go’: Bodycam Video Shows Police Arresting 6-Year-Old Girl At School

‘Please Let Me Go’: Bodycam Video Shows Police Arresting 6-Year-Old Girl At School

police arrest
Body camera footage has been released showing a 6-year-old girl crying for help as she is arrested and her hands zip-tied by an Orlando police officer. Image: Body camera footage/NBC News

Body camera footage has been released showing the arrest of a 6-year-old girl who cried and asked to be let go as her hands were zip-tied by a police officer.

The incident took place on Sept. 19, 2019 at an Orlando school and resulted in Orlando police officer Dennis Turner being fired. He was fired within days of the arrest of the girl shown on the body-camera video.

The footage was provided to NBC affiliate WESH in Orlando on Monday by the attorney for the child’s family, WESH2 reported.

The video shows the police officer in the school office, with the child crying in the background.

“OK, she’s going to have to come with us now,” the officer says.

“What are those for?” the child asks.

“It’s for you,” the officer says. An unidentified voice says, “Give your hands, OK? Come over here, honey.”

The child cries, “No. No.”

The 6-year-old girl — one of two 6-year-olds arrested at the school that day — was accused of kicking and punching three staff members at Lucious & Emma Nixon Academy Charter School in Orlando.

She was restrained with zip ties and walked to the police car where she begged to be let go.

Bodycam footage shows staff members questioning how police are handling the situation. “The restraints — are they necessary?” a woman asks.

An officer responds, “Yes, and if she were bigger, she would have been wearing regular handcuffs.”

The footage shows an officer speaking about his record of making arrests. “Six thousand people I’ve arrested over the 28 years. That’s a lot of people,” he said.

“But that young?” a woman asks.

“Seven is the youngest,” he says. “She’s 8, isn’t she?”

“She’s 6,” the woman says.

“She’s 6. Now she has broken the record. She broke the record.”

Five days later, City of Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón announced that Turner had been fired. At the time, Rolon said he was shocked by Turner’s actions and apologized directly to the children involved and their families.

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 69: Jamarlin Martin

Jamarlin goes solo to unpack the question: Was Barack Obama the first political anti-Christ to rise in Black America?

“As a grandfather of three children less than 11 years old, I can only imagine how traumatic this was for everyone involved,” Rolón said.”We were all appalled. We could not fathom the idea of a 6-year-old being put in the back of a police car.”

Both 6-year-olds arrested that day were charged with misdemeanor battery. State Attorney Aramis D. Ayala said the state would not pursue those charges, WESH2 reported.

After the video was released, Rolón spoke again about the incident. Officers now need approval by the Deputy Chief to arrest anyone under the age of 12.

The child’s grandmother told WESH2 she hopes the video will prevent another 6-year-old child from getting arrested.