Footage Shows 13-Year-Old Boy Arrested For Selling Roses Outside Walmart: ‘If There Were Girl Scouts Set Up There, Would The Results Have Been The Same?’
South Carolina police have released a gruesome bodycam footage of two officers forcefully arresting a 13-year-old boy as he was selling flowers outside a Walmart store. The video shows officers Dante Ghi and Katherine Kirkland approaching the teen on April 1 at a Walmart location in Summerville, South Carolina, and asking him for his photo I.D. and business license. The 13-year-old is shown asking why he needs to show the documents.
“You’re getting ready to go to jail is why,” one of the officers replied.
Officer Ghi is seen grabbing the boy’s arm in the video before trying to force the boy’s head between his legs. According to the Atlanta Black Star, Kirkland later said the boy “struck” her in the face with his fist during the struggle. Police also provided a photo of a bruise Kirkland sustained under her eye. However, the video doesn’t show the child hitting the officer.
State Rep. Martin Pendarvis, who is representing the child’s family, said in a statement that the teen couldn’t have punched the officer.
“What you see is (his left hand) handcuffed, and the other officer has him subdued and engaged with his right hand. It’s hard to come to the conclusion, in my mind, that there would have been time (to strike) this officer,” Pendarvis said, the Atlanta Black Star reported.
Police described the teen as “uncooperative” and “confrontational.” They also said the teen shoved Ghi into a wall.
One witness also posted a video to Facebook. The clip shows Ghi pushing the child’s head down between his legs while Kirkland cuffs him from behind. Kirkland threatened to use her taser while Ghi forced him to the ground.
According to a statement from Summerville Police Lt. Shaun Tumbleston, Ghi used “grappling motion” to prevent the teen “from standing up and to prevent the risk of the individual trying to escape or assault another police officer.”
The teen has been charged with assaulting an officer; another teen with him was charged with trespassing.
Pendarvis said his client often sells rose-shaped flowers because he’s trying to make an “honest buck.”
“This was an overreaction. This was an escalation. There was no attempt to try to de-escalate the event from the time that they approached him,” Pendarvis said, according to the Atlanta Black Star.
He continued, “It’s not uncommon, whether it’s Girl Scouts or church groups or little league groups, to gather in front of storefronts, selling cookies, selling lemonade, selling whatever, to make an honest buck, to raise money for particular situations. If there were Girl Scouts set up there, would the results have been the same?”
The Summerville community came together for a protest and demanded justice for the teen after viewing the bodycam footage.
“It’s just very sad what young Black men face at the hands of police that should be helping them,” protestor Patricia Cannon said in an interview with WCBD.
Fellow protester Denise Rock is calling for Officer Ghi’s firing.
“Where’s police reform? The state needs to get involved and address people like Officer Ghi. He should never be a police officer again,” Rock told WCBD.
