Facebook video of Black teenager’s arrest raises questions

Updated to reflect the Halifax Regional Police Department’s response.

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – We don’t know the full context, but this video of cops tackling a Black teenager in Bedford, Nova Scotia raises questions about unwarranted police violence. 

The short video is being widely shared on social media. 

Click here to see the video if it doesn’t display on top of the page.

In the post the mother of the boy says mall security called the cops on her 15-year old son after he refused to leave an area of the Sunnyside Mall where he had no business being. 

The scuffle with a police officer recorded on the video happened after that call, at the Bedford Place Mall, a short distance from Sunnyside. 

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“The cops go over there and I guess talk to my son, I don’t know what words was said, they said he was causing a disturbance but my son felt his rights was violated so he was speaking up and being like “hey this ain’t right, I didn’t do anything” etc and then that’s when they did all this to him,” writes the boy’s mother. 

The mother reports that her son was released into her care, and that no charges were laid. A visit to the hospital established that the boy has a concussion. He also suffered bruises and other minor injuries. 

Update: In a press release issued in the late afternoon Halifax Regional Police states that given the injuries suffered by the teenager the matter has been referred to the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT). In the interim the two officers have been placed on administrative duty.

A survey conducted for the Wortley report on street checks found that Black respondents were twice as likely to describe a negative experience with the police (63.6%) as a positive experience (35.1%). 

By contrast, white respondents were twice as likely to report a positive experience with the police (68.4%) than a negative experience (31.9%).  

Bedford is policed by the Halifax Regional Police Department.

See also: False accusations and violent arrest by Halifax police lead to injuries, Black woman reports