Published Tuesday, February 2, 2021 6:16AM EST Last Updated Tuesday, February 2, 2021 4:01PM EST (CNN) Three Rochester, New York, officers have been removed from patrol duty after an incident in which a 9-year-old girl was handcuffed and pepper-sprayed, Interim Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan said. Body camera videos of Friday s encounter released by the police department over the weekend showed officers restraining the child, putting her in handcuffs and attempting to get her inside the back of a police vehicle as she repeatedly cries and calls for her father. The officers were responding to what police called a report of family trouble in an encounter sharply criticized by city officials. The incident led to protests in the community.
It was clear that police thought she was a problem.
The 9-year-old girl was not complying with police orders. Already handcuffed, she would not swing her legs into the back of the police car. She complained about a bad arm. She kept calling for her dad. She was unable to stop sobbing. Rochester, N.Y., police officers, who had responded to a domestic disturbance at the girl’s home, were getting frustrated.
One of the police officers scolded the little girl for “acting like a child.”
“I am a child,” the girl yelled back. Moments later, he pepper-sprayed her.
Video of the child’s detainment, which occurred Friday afternoon, provoked protests in the streets of Rochester on Monday and drew outrage from many who watched the body-camera footage. On Twitter, “She’s 9” began trending, with the vast majority of tweets expressing horror but not necessarily surprise that a 9-year-old girl would be treated that way by law enforcement. By Monday night, Rochester city offi
The mayor of Rochester, N.Y., ordered the city's police chief to immediately suspend officers who were involved in Friday's pepper-spraying of a nine-year-old girl, the city announced on Monday.
Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrated outside Rochester police station on Monday night. Demonstrators overturned barricades as they protested the pepper-spraying of a girl, 9.