ACLU Sues Flint Police for Handcuffing 7 yr Old Black Child, Detained w/the Aid of Sleeping Toms Working at School
/From [HERE] Police handcuffed a 7-year-old-boy and left him restrained for roughly an hour while they waited on a key in order to release him, according to a newly-filed federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges excessive force was used by a Flint police officer who handcuffed the child in 2015 during an after-school program administered by the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Tuesday, July 31, in Flint U.S. District Court on behalf of Cameron McCadden and his mother, Chrystal McCadden, against the chamber, the city of Flint, police Chief Tim Johnson and police officer Terrance Walker.
Cameron McCadden was a second-grade student at Brownell K-2 STEM Academy and attending the YouthQuest program on Oct. 12, 2015, when Chrystal McCadden received a phone call stating her son was running around on a set of bleachers after kicking a supply cart, according to the lawsuit.
While still on the phone, the lawsuit states Chrystal McCadden was told her son had been handcuffed, but she didn't realize it was a police officer who handcuffed Cameron until she later arrived at the school.
A uniformed school resource officer, identified in the lawsuit as Terrance Walker, met Chrystal McCadden outside the school and confirmed her son was in handcuffs. She entered the school's lobby and saw her son.
A video of the incident provided by Chrystal McCadden shows the boy, who the lawsuit claims is approximately four-feet-tall and weighs 55 pounds, calmly sitting on a bench with his hands cuffed behind his back.
An unidentified voice on the video begins describing the boy's behavior.
"I don't care what he was doing. He don't deserve to be in no handcuffs," Chrystal McCadden can be heard saying on the video.
McCadden can be heard asking for the handcuffs to be taken off of her son so they can leave, but a voice states a key is on the way.
On the video check out that she is talking to Black workers at the school who are literally functioning like robots in service of the government and all rules, authorities Over humanity in support of their own domination. FUNKTIONARY describes such coin operatives as Sleeping Toms or SNAGS [$nitch-ass Negroes Aiding Governments].
Sleeping Tom - a person of Afrikan descent who has not consciously awakened to fully embrace his or her own asili (cultural heritage and imperative). 2) a socially unconscious person of Afrikan descent who participates in secret balloting (voting). A sleeping Tom lives and reacts out of another culture's asili or out of the mind of another; not their own. 3) a Negro who is unaware that he is all souled-out. 4) a Negro who isn't aware that he is in fact and in deed a certified Sambo. 5) a broken, token Negro; a coin-operative. (See: Straw Boss, Doublemindedness, Sambo, Uncle Tom-Tom, Coin-Operated & Secret Ballots).
"So, you don't even have the key," Chrystal McCadden says in the video. "You locked my son in handcuffs and you don't even have the key to get him out."
The lawsuit claims a key was secured approximately one hour after the incident began, and the boy was then released.
McCadden says she was never informed of any rule of the YouthQuest program, an afterschool enrichment program for Flint children, that her son violated or an explanation of why he was handcuffed.
However, the lawsuit says the boy's behavior was "consistent" with his disability.
Cameron McCadden was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in 2012, which "makes it difficult for him to focus, maintain attention, control his behavior, follow directions, and stay seated," according to the lawsuit.
Chrystal McCadden informed YouthQuest program staff of his disability upon enrollment, as well as of his individualized education plan, medication, and disability-related behavioral challenges.
The mother and a female YouthQuest site leader had several conversations during the 13 months leading up to the day of the incident, according to the lawsuit.
"We have conversations about everything," said Chrystal McCadden at a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Flint. "At this point there was no excuse for the whole incident. Just to call me and just drop a line, your son is in handcuffs. I was horrified when I walked in and seen him in handcuffs."
She urged the district to "reconstruct" how staff is trained on dealing with children diagnosed with ADHD, ADD, and autism, as well as not having armed security in elementary school buildings.
Mark Fancher, racial justice attorney at the ACLU of Michigan, commented by sending a police officer to deal with the situation they "effectively criminalized his disability."
The lawsuit alleges disability-based discrimination. It also includes allegations of unreasonable seizure and excessive force given the child's size at the time of the incident and claims that he "posed no physical threat to anyone."
As a result of the incident, the lawsuit states "Cameron suffered and continues to suffer emotional suffering, psychological injury, and trauma. Cameron continues to experience fear, distrust, and anxiety regarding law enforcement officers."
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and an order stopping the restraint of children with disabilities for their related behavior.
