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(Reuters) - The mayor of Rochester, New York, ordered the immediate suspension on Monday of city police officers involved in the pepper-spraying of a 9-year-old girl while she was handcuffed, an incident caught on police body-camera video.
Mayor Lovely Warren said in a message posted on Twitter that the suspensions, announced after she met with the city’s police chief, would continue “at a minimum” until a police internal investigation of Friday’s arrest is completed.
“What happened Friday was simply horrible, and has rightly outraged, all of our community,” the mayor said. “Unfortunately, state law and union contract prevents me from taking more immediate and serious action.”
Viral Video Shows Police Officer in New York Pepper-Sprays Minor bwabtk.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bwabtk.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Pepper sprays are conventionally associated with single women trying to ward off perverts, a safety net while commuting back from work late hours or while traveling alone.
When the footage showing Rochester Police pepper-spraying a 9-year-old girl went viral, it not just outraged many, but made several feel sick to their stomach. Was it really necessary?
[Representational image]REUTERS TV
The police in Rochester released two body camera videos on Sunday while the officers were trying to restrain and control a distraught nine-year-old girl. The girl was handcuffed and sprayed with what the police calls a chemical irritant in order to handle the girl.
January 31, 2021 - 1:27 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Police in Rochester released two body-camera videos Sunday of officers restraining a distraught 9-year-old girl who was handcuffed and sprayed with what police called a chemical âirritant.â
The Democrat and Chronicle reported that prior to the release of the videos, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren expressed her concern for the âchild that was harmed during this incident that happened on Friday.â
âI have a 10-year-old child, so sheâs a child, sheâs a baby. This video, as a mother, is not anything you want to see, Warren went on to say.
A total of nine officers and supervisors responded to the report of âfamily troubleâ on Friday. The girl can be heard in the body-camera videos from officers at the scene screaming frantically for her father as the officers try to restrain her.