KEY WEST, Fla. – The Key West Police Department is in hot water after a video surfaced of an arrest at an elementary school.
The video is tough to watch. Police body cam footage shows an officer trying to handcuff a crying 8-year-old boy reportedly with special needs who attends Gerald Adams Elementary School in Key West.
The handcuffs are too big for the 3-foot-5, 64-pound boy, but he is taken into custody none the less.
The child was accused, according to the arrest report, of punching a teacher in the chest after being reprimanded for not sitting correctly in the cafeteria during lunch.
Officers charged the 8-year-old with felony battery.
The video is from December of 2018, but it blew up on social media Monday after it was posted on the Twitter and Instagram account of Tallahassee civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.
Unbelievable!! @KWPOLICE used “scared straight” tactics on 8yo boy with special needs. He's 3.5 ft tall and 64 lbs, but they thought it was appropriate to handcuff and transport him to an adult prison for processing!! He was so small the cuffs fell off his wrists! pic.twitter.com/iSTlXdKas6
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 10, 2020
Crump is now representing the boy's mother in a federal lawsuit to be filed this week against the Key West Police Department and the Monroe County School District.
In a statement to the Miami Herald, the Key West police chief said that his officers did not do anything wrong.
The Monroe County School District will not comment on the case because of the possible legal action.
Crump held a news conference on Tuesday morning, which can be seen below:
Attorney Ben Crump announces lawsuit after 8-year-old boy arrested by Key West policeWATCH LIVE: Attorney Ben Crump announces lawsuit after 8-year-old boy arrested by Key West police https://bit.ly/31IZFYm
Posted by WPLG Local 10 on Tuesday, August 11, 2020