Mother Whose 10-Year-Old Was Chased by Cops Wants Reform, Not Apology
On August 11, a ten-year-old in Newark, New Jersey, named Legend Preston was chased by the police. His mother, Patisha Solomon, posted this video to her Facebook page shortly afterward:
She and he claimed that the cops had drawn their guns as they chased the child, who had been in the street retrieving a basketball, according to his mother. The Newark Police Department claimed to WABC 7 that weapons were drawn, but never pointed at the child. In the end, the family says the police did not apologize to them, even when they caught the suspect that they had been sure Preston resembled. The suspect is 20 years old with a beard and dreadlocks. Preston is 10 with a baby face and short hair.
Solomon recorded the aftermath of the incident because she “knew [she] had to get some type of documentation.” She told the New York Daily News that she thinks it’s important to always keep phones charged in case a need to document an encounter with an officer arises. The merits of recording police interactions have been a hot topic this summer, especially, in the wake of a woman livestreaming the death of her boyfriend, Philando Castile, at the hands of police officers in Minnesota.
In their latest piece on the incident, the New York Daily News is reporting that Solomon doesn’t want an apology from the department at all. She explained that she never wanted to be an activist of any kind but now sees no other option. She said this:
What option have they given me but to speak out? I didn’t ask for any of this. My prime concern is not an apology. My concern is reform of this system. I want to see accountability and responsibility.
She also spoke with the paper about how upset she gets, even two weeks later, thinking of what could have happened to her son if he had tripped or reached for a toy as he ran.
The incident is reminiscent of what happened to Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old who was playing with a toy gun in a public park in the open-carry state of Ohio in 2014. Officers shot and killed him “one-and-a-half to two seconds” after pulling up to the park.
[image via screengrab]
