WEST MEMPHIS, Ark, — A mother from West Memphis is demanding answers after a video surfaced on Facebook showing West Memphis Police officers arresting her 14-year-old son.
Krisheena Cannady accused WMPD of mishandling her son during the arrest Tuesday night.
“I thank God for covering my son, but I feel like I could’ve lost my son because of the way he was handling him, shouldn’t nobody be treated like that.” Cannady said over the phone.
WMPD said the ordeal started when they saw a car driving recklessly that failed to stop at a stop sign.
But Cannady said her son told her a different story.
“Only thing he told me was, he was vacuuming the car out, and when he turned around the police was grabbing on him,” Cannady said.
The video circulated on Facebook and currently has 252 shares and 85 comments. West Memphis’ mayor, Marco McClendon weighed in on the video.
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McClendon said the video does not give a full account to what happened.
“I have learned it is more to this video than just the small piece put out on social media,” McClendon said.
McClendon said he’s in support of all calls for accountability, but wants people to wait for all of the facts.
“I understand, with the racial climate going on right now in the country that this is very important we pay close attention and address it appropriately. But when you get a small part and don’t take into account all of the factors, it can be upsetting,” McClendon said.
McClendon said after he saw dash cam video of the entire incident, he believes his officers handled the encounter appropriately.
“I pretty much stand in support of my officers at this time right now looking at what I have seen is that we didn’t do anything that was inappropriate,” McClendon said.
The mother of the teen said she wants justice and her voice heard. Cannady said she is a taxpayer and wants West Memphis Police officers to treat her and everyone else like people.
Mayor McClendon said he would support an independent investigation of the incident by Arkansas State Police if called for. Officials said the dashcam footage can not be publicly released until the investigation is complete.