NJ police under fire after cuffing black teen in mall fight as white teen watches

[The Bobster]

NJ police under fire after cuffing black teen in mall fight as white teen watches

A New Jersey police department is under fire after two officers handcuffed and pinned a black teen to the ground during a weekend mall fight while the white teen involved in the feud was left to si…

nypost.com

NJ police under fire after cuffing black teen in mall fight as white teen watches​

By
Kenneth Garger


February 16, 2022 11:34pm
Updated









Outrage after police response to NJ mall fight






A New Jersey police department is being criticized after two officers handcuffed and pinned a black teen to the floor during a weekend mall fight while the white teen involved in the feud was left to sit on a couch.
The Saturday fracas at Bridgewater Commons — and the police response that has sparked an internal investigation — was captured on video that quickly spread on social media.
The teens started out arguing with each other before things turned physical and the two exchanged punches and shoves, the video shows.
Two officers from the Bridgewater Police Department arrived seconds later and pulled the white teen away from the other boy and pushed him onto a nearby couch.
00:00 01:30

With the black teen already on the floor, the male cop pins him down and places his knee on the boy’s back, the video shows.


The female officer then leaves the white teen alone and joins the male cop, also placing a knee near the back of the black teen’s neck as the two handcuff him.

New Jersey police officers aggressively pin the black teenager to the floor, while the white teen watches.Sienna Freidinger via Storyful
While the two cops are subduing the black teen, the other boy can be seen standing up and looking at the arrest taking place.


“Yo, it’s ’cause he’s black. Racially motivated,” a person can be heard saying.


The black teen, identified as Kye, told NBC News in an interview that he confronted the other boy, who had been bullying his friend.


“He was kind of saying, like, ‘You’re a little kid, you’re my little pet,’ and stuff like that,” Kye said.


Kye’s mother, who also spoke with the news outlet, slammed the police response.

Video screenshot captures two teenagers fighting. Sienna Freidinger via Storyful
“It doesn’t take two cops to hold a 14-year-old boy down who’s not resisting, while the other boy is just kind of going free and still going off on my son. It just doesn’t make sense,” she said.


Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement posted to Twitter that he was “deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video.”


In a Monday Facebook post, the Bridgewater Police Department announced that an internal probe would be conducted.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks to reporters during a briefing in Trenton, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. AP The incident happened at Bridgewater Commons in New Jersey.Sienna Freidinger via Storyful
Commenters to the department’s post voiced outrage at how the officers handled the situation.


“Those officers need to be held accountable! Immediately!” one woman wrote.


“We want an independent investigation. If we are going to restrain youth, both should have been restrained. Blackness is not more threatening,” another person said.


A third Facebook user said: “Clearly they targeted one over the other. It is disgusting and evidences the reason why the African American community has no trust in the system whatsoever. Very upsetting.”

 

[The Bobster]

Black NJ teen pinned by cops said they made him feel ‘inferior’ to white counterpart

The black teenager who was pinned to the ground and handcuffed by two police officers at a New Jersey mall said Friday that the cops made him feel “inferior.”

nypost.com

Black NJ teen pinned by cops said they made him feel ‘inferior’ to white counterpart​

By
Ben Feuerherd


February 18, 2022 5:05pm
Updated









Outrage after police response to NJ mall fight







The black teenager who was pinned to the ground and handcuffed by two police officers at a New Jersey mall said Friday the cops made him feel “inferior” because they let a white teen he had been fighting with sit on a couch as they restrained him.
Speaking on CNN’s “New Day,” teen Z’Kye Husain said he was mad at the disparate treatment he and the white teen received by the cops.
“I felt like, inferior, like I was less important,” Husain, 14, told host John Berman.
“I was like mad. I was angry that they treated me differently,” he added.
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Husain got into a fight Saturday at the Bridgewater Commons mall in Bridgewater after he confronted another teen, who is white, about trying to beat up a 7th grader.


As cellphone videos rolled, two Bridgewater Police officers broke up the fight by pulling the white teen off of Husain and ordering him onto a nearby couch.


The cops forcefully restrained Husain on the floor of the mall, pressing their knees onto his back as they handcuffed him, according to the footage and his interview on CNN.

Z’Kye Husain accused New Jersey police officers of treating him differently when he was restrained by them after fighting a white teenager.Sienna Freidinger via Storyful
Husain said in the interview that he learned of the different treatment after watching a viral video clip of the incident.


His family have hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who called on the police officers to be reprimanded and retrained.


“It is evident that officers immediately assumed that because of the color of Z’Kye’s skin, him acting nobly was not even in the realm of possibility,” Crump said.

Footage shows Husain confronting a white teenager before they got into a fight at the Bridgewater Commons in New Jersey.Sienna Freidinger via Storyful New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he was “deeply disturbed” by the alleged behavior of the Bridgewater Police officers.AP Photo/Seth Wenig
“That video says it all,” he said of the incident, which is being probed by the police department with the help of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office’s Internal Affairs Unit.


New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement that he was “deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video.”


The Bridgewater Police have declined to comment about the incident.

 

[The Bobster]

Lawyer calls for cops that pinned black NJ teen in mall to be fired

Teenager Z’Kye Husain was hanging out at Bridgewater Commons Mall when he said an 11th grader he’d never met before started hassling his friend, who is in the 7th grade,

nypost.com

Race-baiting fraud lawyer calls for cops that pinned black NJ teen in mall to be fired​

By
Jesse O’Neill


February 19, 2022 1:04am
Updated









Outrage after police response to NJ mall fight

​

The New Jersey cops who handcuffed and pinned a black middle school student in a mall while ignoring the older white boy he was brawling with should turn in their badges, the teen’s lawyer told The Post on Friday.
“They should be relieved of their duties if they believe this is good policing … because this is how our children become hashtags,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump said of the white officers during a Zoom call with The Post and 14-year-old Z’Kye Husain and his mother Ebone
The teen was hanging out at Bridgewater Commons Mall on Saturday when an 11th grader he’d never met before started hassling his friend, who is in the 7th grade, he said.
“I don’t know him. And he was messing with him because he was smaller and younger. He was kind of getting into our conversation and then my younger friend stepped in and said, ‘Why are you getting in our conversation? Like, mind your business,'” Z’Kye recounted.
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When the larger teen continued to harass the group and stuck his finger in Z’Kye’s face, the two came to blows, viral cellphone video showed.

New Jersey police officers handcuffed 14-year-old Z’Kye Husain following an altercation at the Bridgewater Commons Mall on Saturday.Sienna Freidinger via Storyful Z’Kye Husain, alongside his mother Ebone, told The Post he didn’t know the 11th-grade boy. Husain claims the boy started harassing his 7th-grade friend.Jesse O'Neill for the New York Post
Two Bridgewater Township officers arrived to see the older teen on top of Z’Kye — who they handcuffed and restrained with knees to his back and neck while leaving his alleged bully to sit on the couch, according to the footage.


“The only thing they saw was he was on top of me,” Z’Kye told The Post, attributing the unbalanced response to racial profiling. “I was scared and it made me think.. it made me feel small and inferior; like I was like less important than the older kid.”


Even the other fighter was taken off guard by the police response, according to Crump.

The officers “should be relieved of their duties if they believe this is good policing,” Z’Kye Husain’s attorney Ben Crump told The Post.Jesse O'Neill for the New York Post
“Finally the white kid even puts his hands up thinking he’s going to be handcuffed and the white policewoman just taps him on his shoulder and says ‘you’re free to go,'” the lawyer said.


“When you see that video it’s just shocking because it underscores what we’ve been saying all along, that the police treat black people differently than white people. For decades black people have been saying this.”


Z’Kye was released to his mom a half-hour after the fight, he said. Both teens were banned from the mall for three years.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he was “deeply disturbed” over the video of Z’Kye Husain being handcuffed as officers sat the other boy.AP
Footage of the incident has sparked an internal review by the police department. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he was “deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video.”


After Ebone saw the clip, she reached out to Crump to help publicize the incident in order to “fight for this concept of equal justice.” The ensuing spotlight had been hard on both mother and son, she said.


“He’s been stressed out. It’s taken a toll on everyone’s mental health, I can’t even work. So it’s taken a toll,” Ebone told The Post. “He can’t live without thinking about the same night over and over again. On top of the fact that he went through it.”


Even though Z’Kye wasn’t hurt by the police, shining a light on the incident could prevent a more serious outcome in the future, Crump said.


“If you don’t do anything about this, next time it can end up a Trayvon Martin or Ahmaud Arbery. So that’s why we’re so convicted to say this has to have accountability.”

 

[The Bobster]

Boy in NJ mall fight says cops were ‘racist’ to only handcuff black teen

A 15-year-old of Colombian and Pakistani descent named Joseph said he was trying to stop the Feb. 12 caught-on-video brawl at Bridgewater Commons Mall and even suggested to be handcuffed himself.

nypost.com

Boy in NJ mall fight says cops were ‘racist’ to only handcuff black teen​

By
Joshua Rhett Miller


February 21, 2022 1:42pm
Updated









Outrage after police response to NJ mall fight



A New Jersey boy caught up in a mall fight that went viral is calling out cops for handcuffing a black teen but not detaining him, saying officers acted “just plain old racist.”
A 15-year-old of Colombian and Pakistani descent named Joseph said he was trying to stop the Feb. 12 caught-on-video brawl at Bridgewater Commons Mall and even suggested to be handcuffed himself after cops slapped them on 14-year-old Z’Kye Husain, who is black, NJ.com reported.
“I don’t understand why they arrested him and not me,” Joseph told the outlet Friday. “I say that was just plain old racist. I don’t condone that at all. Like I said, I even offered to get arrested.”
Video showed the teens exchanging punches and shoving each other, but responding Bridgewater cops forcefully restrained Z’Kye and handcuffed the eighth-grader while Joseph was left to sit on a couch.

Joseph said rumors were flying that a group of teens planned to attack another boy at the mall, but the youngster never showed up. The 15-year-old then confronted another teen, a seventh-grader who allegedly planned to instigate the brawl that later took place when Z’Kye stepped up for his friend, NJ.com reported.

Prior to the arrest, the two teens had been seen in the middle of a fight when officers pinned the black teen onto the floor and left the white teen alone. Sienna Freidinger via Storyful The fight took place at Bridgewater Commons, where both teens started throwing punches and shoves. Sienna Freidinger via Storyful According to one witness, rumors were flying that a group of teens planned to attack another boy at the mall, but the youngster never showed up.Sienna Freidinger via Storyful
“I knew that was really bad,” Joseph said of the officers’ conduct seen in the footage. “I even offered to get handcuffed, I offered to get detained after Kye was detained, and they turned my offer down. I even asked why they detained Kyle and not me, and they said because Kye was resisting.”


Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Z’Kye and his mother, has called on Bridgewater police to fire the officers involved, alleging they “blatantly” racially profiled the black teen.


“The only thing they saw was he was on top of me,” Z’Kye told The Post Friday. “I was scared and it made me think. It made me feel small and inferior; like I was like less important than the older kid.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has said he was “deeply disturbed” by the apparent “racially disparate” response by the officers seen in the footage.Sienna Freidinger via Storyful
Z’Kye’s mother has also been told by the head of mall security that she’d be responsible for the cost of a table broken during the fight, Crump said in a statement to The Post Monday.


“This offensive and unacceptable demand of payment continues to exemplify the disparate treatment of white families and Black families in America,” Crump said. “The only people who should be asked to pay for the damaged table are those who engaged in biased policing and caused it to be damaged.”


Neither teen was charged and Z’Kye was released into the custody of his mother some 30 minutes after the fight, he said. Both he and Joseph have been banned from the mall for three years.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Z’Kye and his mother, has called on Bridgewater police to fire the officers involved.Jesse O'Neill for the New York P
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has said he was “deeply disturbed” by the apparent “racially disparate” response by the officers seen in the footage. An internal review by police department officials is ongoing as the Somerset County prosecutor looks into the matter.


“We recognize that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation,” Bridgewater police said in a statement last week. “The officers were able to respond quickly to this incident and stop it from escalating because of a tip we received from the community.”


Z’Kye’s mother said she contacted Crump in search of “equal justice” in the incident, which has been tough on both her and her teen son.

Z’Kye Husain (right) was released into the custody of his mother, Ebone (left), some 30 minutes after the fight. Jesse O'Neill for the New York P
“He’s been stressed out. It’s taken a toll on everyone’s mental health, I can’t even work. So it’s taken a toll,” Z’Kye mother, Ebone, told The Post. “He can’t live without thinking about the same night over and over again. On top of the fact that he went through it.”


Z’Kye was luckily unhurt, Crump said, but could’ve been seriously injured or even killed during the interaction with police.


According to several witnesses, both officers left the white teen alone while the black teen was handcuffed. Sienna Freidinger via Storyful

“If you don’t do anything about this, next time it can end up a Trayvon Martin or Ahmaud Arbery,” Crump said. “So that’s why we’re so convicted to say this has to have accountability.”


Joseph, meanwhile, said he’s being trolled online by some hateful critics who called him a “racist white teen” while making thinly veiled threats, NJ.com reported.


“Basically, people saying, ‘I know who you are, you better watch your back,’” the teen said. “There was one saying I should kill myself.”


Attempts by The Post to reach Joseph on Monday were unsuccessful.


The mall ban will severely impact the teen, since he works at a movie theater there. Joseph said he regrets getting involved in the fight, but had no explanation for the officers’ “plain racist” response.


“I wish I would have been the bigger man and walked out,” Joseph told NJ.com.