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Home · News

Police Held Black Teens At Gunpoint After They Were Chased By Man With Knife

The three Black teenagers were being chased by a man with a knife when police were called, only for officers to turn on them instead.
Police Held Black Teens At Gunpoint After They Were Chased By Man With Knife
Instagram
By Breanna Edwards · Updated November 4, 2020

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating after three Black teenagers were held at gunpoint by deputies after they were allegedly chased by a man with a knife.

Video of the incident that was originally posted on Facebook shows the teens standing in the bus shed with their arms raised as deputies pointed their weapons at them, even as bystanders responded in outrage.

“It’s not them,” several people could be heard yelling.

“Put your guns down. They’re kids,” another person adds.

One woman could be heard repeatedly telling the teens to “keep your hands up” as the officers hold them at gunpoint.

Yet another woman could be heard identifying herself as the manager of a nearby Buffalo Wild Wings and the one who called police to report “a male Hispanic outside the parking lot chasing three African-American kids with a knife,” as Buzzfeed notes.

“There’s a crazy man running around our parking lot chasing kids, trying to stab them, and you come here and approach the kids that we’re trying to help like that with guns,” she argued. “And the crazy man is running down the street with a knife.”

Eventually, one by one they walk backward toward the deputies, who handcuff them and place them in squad cars. However, according to NBC Los Angeles, no one was arrested.

The deputies claimed that they were responding to a call about men who matched the descriptions of the teenagers. According to the sheriff’s department, they received no other calls about a knife attack.

View this post on Instagram

I wanted to share what happened to my son yesterday in SCV when he was with a couple of friends sitting at a bus stop headed home. He was attacked by a gentleman (homeless guy) who approached them and first asked them if they had any crack then tried to take their things. The guy became so aggressive that he took his shirt off pulled out a knife and whip them tried to stabbed them. His friends only had their skate boards to cover them from the knife and whip so they held it out to keep distance from this guy. Several bystanders including the restaurant manager of Buffalo Wild wings called the police to get help for the boys but “One” caller called the police and reported two black guys are attacking a homeless guy. This is how the police responded. This is something my son and his friends will never forget. I’m still wonder how will I ever help my son recover from this traumatic experience. Please pray for my family. Please Share to protect our kids!!!

A post shared by Tammi Collins (@tammilaray) on Aug 8, 2020 at 1:17am PDT

Nonetheless, the LA County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident and the video even as the parents of two of the teens try to come to terms with what happened.

“I know that my son will never forget this experience. Especially after George Floyd, I sat him down and talked to him about how to respond if he was ever approached by police, so he knew exactly what to do,” Collins said. “How to follow orders, not to say anything, not to do anything out of character. So to see how they treated the boys, it was literally heartbreaking. I couldn’t watch the full video.”

Robert Brown, a lawyer representing the families of the three teenagers involved, noted that right now the young men are focused on “processing the situation and healing” from the “traumatizing” incident that saw their lives threatened not once, but twice.

“The young men are still shaken up by the incident. It was traumatizing. After having been attacked with knife, minutes later, they experienced numerous police officer pointing guns at them,” Brown said. “So [two] life and death situations in a matter of minutes. At this time, it has been decided that the young men should not speak about what happened and that they should focus on processing the situation and healing.”

My statement regarding the recent video involving a call for service in Santa Clarita. The matter is being investigated & we will provide  updates as they become available. pic.twitter.com/yu1ZCXtVKz

— Alex Villanueva (@LACoSheriff) August 10, 2020
TOPICS:  excessive force Valdosta Police Department police accountability Police Brutality
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