Nu OriginsA Virginia police officer that threatened Black middle schoolers with the taunt of “wait until your asses turn 18, then you’re mine,” will undergo remedial training.
The Richmond Police Department launched an internal investigation after a Facebook video went viral two weeks ago. It showed an unnamed white police officer driving his car towards a group of Black middle school students who were walking to an after-school program on March 28. One said “f— the police,” In response, the officer then told the group to “man up” and said: “Wait until your asses turn 18, then you’re mine,” before driving off. The altercation took place outside of Albert Hill Middle School in Richmond.
Tenesha Calloway posted the clip of the incident to Facebook.
“I am disgusted and disappointed but not surprised that a white male officer would make a threat and use that tone or language towards a group of children. My child and her friends have to walk to their after school program and knowing that the police are making idle threats to them is unsettling. I want to know who this officer is and I demand an apology and some form of reprimand to this officer,” she captioned the video.
While waiting to walk to their after school program a Richmond City Police officer drove past my daughter and her classmates that were standing in front of Alberthill middle school, made a U turn and yelled out of his window “what did you say?”. They told the officer they didn’t say anything and he replied “ yes you did”. One of the young ladies said no we didn’t and if we did we have the right to speak. He proceeds to tell the minors that “That’s ok when you turn 18 your ass is mine”. I am disgusted and disappointed but not surprised that a white male officer would make a threat and use that tone or language towards a group of children. My child and her friends have to walk to their after school program and knowing that the police are making idle threats to them is unsettling. I want to know who this officer is and I demand an apology and some form of reprimand to this officer. Please repost and show how the city treats its youth!😡#channel12news#channel6news#lavarstoney#williamcsmith#channel8news#wtvr6#blacklives#leaveourbabiesalone#cnn#nbc
Posted by Tenesha Calloway on Thursday, March 28, 2019
Richmond Police interim chief William C. Smith released a statement last week and apologized to the citizens of Richmond, the students involved and their parents. The offending officer will be reassigned to another area of the city to ensure there is no appearance of bias or retaliation within the community.
“His actions do not reflect the values, training, or policies of the department,” Smith said.
Smith added that the officer was a 15 year veteran and only had one complaint prior.
“He voluntarily requested to be given the opportunity to speak to and apologize to the parents,” Smith said. “While these facts don’t minimize the incident, they do give you totality of the person.”
Keisha Curry is the mother of Cameron Hillard who recorded the video. She was not pleased with the way police were handling the matter and felt the officer was not taking full accountability.
“Not letting the public know who the officer is doesn’t allow any other individuals the opportunity to speak out if they were mistreated by him before,” she said. “Everyone knows we didn’t want him fired based on this encounter, but how can this behavior be fully investigated by only doing an internal investigation, when the verbal threat was done in the community?”
