In Rochester, New York, newly released footage shows a police officer tackling and pepper-spraying an African American woman who was walking with her 3-year-old daughter, after the mother was accused of shoplifting. This follows another disturbing incident in January when Rochester police handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old Black girl. In a statement, the New York Civil Liberties Union responded, “No police department that routinely deploys tactics designed for physical and psychological torture on Black toddlers, children and mothers has any iota of legitimacy, accountability or trust.”
Last month, a grand jury decided not to file charges against the Rochester police officers involved in the March 2020 death of Daniel Prude, who died from asphyxiation after officers handcuffed him while he was naked, put a hood over his head and then pushed his face into the freezing cold ground for two minutes while kneeling on his back.
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