Video shows cop punching and pepper spraying 15-year-old girl

We may be a little late on this incident – but better late than never. Just think, before the rise of the net, incidents like Jena, Palmdale, CA and the one below in Ft. Pierce Florida, went on without public knowledge. Thanks to our friends over at Newsmakers Journal for sending out this information.

During his aggressive arrest of a 15-year-old female for a curfew violation, a Ft. Pierce police officer punched and pepper-sprayed an 89 pound teenager. According to WPBF-TV, Officer Daniel Gilroy arrested Shelwand Riley, for violating curfew and acting suspiciously. She was allegedly carrying a garbage bag full of new clothes with tags still attached, WPBF reported.

The teen pleaded not guilty last week to a resisting-arrest charge.

I must warn you, this video sparks a lot of emotion, especially as a parent. It is very sad to see, first hand, what our youth have to deal with when they leave home. And this from the very people paid to protect them. This video illustrates the need for elders to be more vigilant in training young people on the proper procedure to follow when they are arrested – regardless of their guilt or innocence.

While I agree this is a race issue – I’m sure they’re not beating affluent white kids for curfew violations - I believe it’s also an issue of the criminal justice system gone wild. The teen in question was more likely to be a minority, however, the out-of-control officer would have used excessive force regardless of race. Judging by the way he handled this young lady, he is unfit to police himself far less the community.

Newmakers Journal (www.newsmakerslive.com) makes the shrewd point, “An unruly African American teenager can be punched in the face and peppered sprayed by a police officer, but cannot be spanked or disciplined by her parents without the parent(s) suffering serious consequences.”



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