BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (WPIX) — The response of two police officers breaking up a fight between teens at a New Jersey mall is raising concerns of racial bias.
Last weekend at a mall in Somerset County, Bridgewater police officers responded to a fight between two teens — one Black and the other a Latino who first appeared to be white.
It took almost 20 seconds for officers to arrive at the fight — which was caught on video — to find the teens scuffling on the ground with the Latino teen on top of the Black teen.
The officers can be seen forcibly yanking the Latino teen away during the fight.
The female officer then sits him down on a couch, while her male partner immediately tackles the Black teen, who was already on his back, and handcuffs him.
The female officer then walks away from the teen on the couch — leaving him uncuffed — to assist her partner. She then puts her knee over the Black teen’s neck.
On Tuesday night, 15-year-old Joey, who was involved in the fight, told WPIX — with his mother’s permission — that he couldn’t believe he wasn’t also placed in cuffs.
“I knew it was wrong, and I knew there was gonna be problems when they did that,” he said. “They didn’t go for me.”
He added, “I didn’t understand why. I even offered to get handcuffed as well.”
Joey’s friend, Sienna Freidinger, filmed the video. She said the officers’ responses weren’t “fair.”
“The Black kid was the only one who was getting tackled, and both officers, like, laid on him,” she said. “Joey could have gotten up and walked away.”
Sienna’s mother, Alicia, said she was “horrified” by the video her daughter recorded.
“I couldn’t believe that a mall fight turned into something like this,” she said. “I couldn’t believe that both of the police officers were on that young man — that Black young man — and nothing was done with the other young man.”
She added, “And it almost seemed to me that the white female officer was even saying to Joey, ‘Are you alright?'”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted Wednesday night that an investigation is underway.
“I’m deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video. We’re committed to increasing trust between law enforcement and the people they serve,” he wrote.
Police have been under increased scrutiny in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Floyd, who was Black, died May 25, 2020, after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes.
The incident, which was also captured on video, sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.
