Outrage at video showing child who was maced by police at Seattle protest

Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by Jackson_ville
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Protester who filmed the aftermath says he was arrested and spent two days in jail for what some are calling police retribution

Standing among a group of peaceful anti-racism protesters in downtown Seattle on a recent Saturday afternoon, Mando Avery held his seven-year-old son’s hand as he and three generations of his African American family finished a prayer with members of their church.

Only feet away, Evan Hreha, 34, a hairstylist, arrived at the protests alone.

That was when, Avery said, out of nowhere, a police officer fired mace at the group. It hit his son square in the face.

As the young boy screamed and clutched on to his father, Hreha caught it all on camera. He confronted the officer he believed had maced the boy and told him the footage was going online. He then posted it on social media.

The footage captures the outrage of protesters after the boy is maced who demand to know why police sprayed a child with the chemical irritant, and made no attempt to help.

Since then, Hreha has been arrested and spent two days in jail for what some are calling police retribution for a video which went viral. The young boy is still traumatized, reeling from the chemical burn on his cheek and asking his parents what he did to deserve it.

“I would say that you were targeting my boy,” Avery told the Guardian, asked what he would say to police.

“I don’t know if you were trying to set an example and strike fear into him. You did a great job.”

What upsets him most, Avery said, is that officers and a group of emergency medical technicians standing about a block away did not step in to help.

“No officer, who’s paid to protect, chose to stand up, break the ranks, go help this child,” he said.

“I just don’t understand how any of them can sleep.”

Police violence and arrests in response to mostly peaceful protests have become one of the themes of nationwide demonstrations triggered by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. Protesters have been teargassed, beaten, hit with rubber bullets and kettled. Thousands have reported injuries, some life-threatening, with thousands more arrested. Many face jail time.

After the first weekend of protests in Seattle, the city’s office of police accountability (OPA) reported at least 12,000 complaints. The majority were related to Avery’s son, whose name is being withheld to protect his privacy.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mando Avery and his son, whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons. Photograph: Shenelle Williams

The OPA has said it is expediting its investigation. Last week, officials announced they would ban the use of teargas during protests for 30 days.

On Saturday 30 May, Avery said, his family drove nearly an hour north from Tacoma, Washington, to be a part of the anti-racism movement and fight for police reform. The family has received some criticism online about bringing their young child to the protests. But when they circled the blocks around the demonstrations, looking for parking, they spotted other families with young children and pets. It felt completely safe, they said.

Within 45 minutes, the boy, who will be entering third grade in the fall, had been maced.

Shenelle Williams, his mother, said hearing his scream was the “most gut-wrenching feeling”.

“I kind of feel like a failure as well,” she said, “because I feel like I couldn’t protect him, but there was nothing that we could do at that time to prevent it.”

Protesters poured milk on the boy’s face, and offered water. On video, they can be heard trying to comfort the screaming child, saying, “It’s going to be OK” and “Give her some space” – many initially mistaking the boy for a girl.

The family is working with a lawyer who is examining what went wrong in this case and many others in Seattle, and what needs to be changed, before deciding on next steps.

“We just wanted to stand up for what was right,” Avery said. “Ultimately our boys will become men and our daughters will become women. And they will ultimately have to face some of the same racial injustices. And enough is enough. Black lives matter.”

Avery said the family’s experience has only served to emphasize the importance of protests and police reform. He said his son has already told him: “One day, daddy, we’re going to get back out there.”

As his video footage racked up thousands of views, Hreha continued to attend the protests.

But a week later, he was walking home after spending an evening helping a friend hand out free hotdogs to protesters when a group of at least seven police officers surrounded him. They told him, he said, that he had been identified as someone who pointed a laser in an officer’s eye. The officers handcuffed him and took him off to jail.

Hreha said he kept telling the officers he didn’t have a laser and had spent the evening at the hotdog stand. Nonetheless, he was denied bail and ultimately held for two days.

His lawyer, Talitha Hazelton, said there were no pending charges against him and no sign of any “documentation with any narrative about the incident that allegedly justified his arrest”.

Hreha, who is white, said he believes the arrest was in response to the video he took and posted. He now feels there is a target on his back, which has given him a very small taste of what black people deal with every day.

“It’s woken me up a bit,” he said. “It just kind of shattered that false narrative that was in my head that cops always protect and serve.”

The Guardian contacted the Seattle police department for comment, and was referred to the OPA, which said it did not know if a complaint had been received about Hreha’s arrest. Seattle PD referred a further request for comment to the city attorney, which said the Seattle PD had not yet referred the case.

The OPA said the “child pepper spray case” was “currently being investigated. We should have a public update on the progress soon.”

Agravicvoid on June 15th, 2020 at 14:21 UTC »

mace a child and cause trauma/burns? We are “investigating”

Get accused of “shining a laser at a cop”? IMMEDIATE JAILTIME

Weird. It’s as if they are literally trying to prove the point that there is corruption. You’d think they would dial back/play nice to say “see we are good”.

Patience_dans_lazur on June 15th, 2020 at 13:33 UTC »

What's up with Seattle PD? They've been all over Reddit in the last couple weeks for all the wrong reasons. Doesn't jive with my impression of Seattle.

Ozimandius80 on June 15th, 2020 at 11:58 UTC »

So the videographer was later arrested and held for 2 days based on 'reports that he had shined a laser at officers' of which no evidence has been produced and the officer that reported that cannot be identified?

YEAH right. So you can imprison someone for 2 days after they post a video that shows you in a bad light based on heresay from a cop who won't even come forward? What the actual fuck is that?