A widely seen video of an 8-year-old Black child sobbing as he's being led into a Syracuse police car over a bag of chips was called "heart wrenching" by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The video taken on Sunday shows a white officer holding the clearly distraught youth from behind by his elbows, leading him from a sidewalk to the back seat of a police vehicle. Another officer says the situation is about "stealing." Bystanders shout at police to let the child go over what they say is a bag of chips. Syracuse police say the officers' actions are being reviewed, along with body-worn camera footage.
As Syracuse.com reported, the boy's father Anthony Weah, was out running errands when police called to say they were at his house with his three sons, and they had been accused of stealing chips. According to reports, Weah said the officers were friendly and did not press charges or make the family pay for the chips.
It wasn't until later that Weah saw the widely circulated video on social media showing his 8-year-old son being put into the back of the police car. The video gainedaround 2,000 views on Facebook and 1.3 million on Twitter, reports said.
Gov. Hochul said in a statement, “We have more work to do, and I know that the mayor is working closely with the police department to get to the bottom of everything,” she said. “But also make sure that we do protect our children, that they’re handled in a different way when it comes to encounters with law enforcement."