May 30, 2013


Black 14-year-old Carrying a Puppy Tackled and Choked by Police for Giving Them a "Dehumanizing Stare"
Grown police officers allege that the unarmed teen looked at them funny.

New cell phone footage shows Miami-Dade Police officers aggressively pinning an unarmed teen to the ground while choking him. His alleged crime: giving the officers “dehumanizing stares” and “clenching his fists.”

Fourteen-year-old Tremaine McMillan says he was feeding his puppy and playing on the beach with some friends when cops riding ATVs approached him and asked what he was doing. The "peacekeeping" officers say they saw McMillan roughhousing with another teenager, told him it was “unacceptable behavior,” and asked where his mother was. When McMillan walked away, they chased him on ATVs, jumped out, pinned him to the ground and arrested him. According to police reports, McMillan “attempted to pull his arm away, stating, 'Man, don't touch me like I did something.'" See footage of the incident, captured by McMillan's mother:

McMillan says he obeyed orders, and was leading the officers towards his mother when they jumped him. The teen adds that he was holding and feeding his puppy at the time, who got injured during the encounter.

“I don’t like it. I feel sad. He got in front of me on the ATC and he slammed my hand,” McMillan said. “Then he started choking me. Then my 6-week old Pit Bull mix named Polo got hurt and bruised his front paw when the police grabbed me and slammed me down. It makes me feel sad.”

Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta justified the use of force, saying McMillan was exhibiting threatening “body language,” which includes “clenched fists.” McMillan adamantly denies this charge because, well, he was holding a puppy.

“Of course we have to neutralize the threat in front of us,” said Zabaleta. “And when you have somebody that is being resistant, somebody that is pulling away from you, somebody that’s clenching their fist, somebody that’s flaring their arms, that’s the immediate threat.”

McMillan’s mother, Maurissa Holmes saw the incident and recorded it on her cell phone. She told WSVN-TV, "I ran over there and said, 'That's my son, that's my son. Can you get off of him? He can't breathe.'

Police charged McMillan with resisting arrest, a felony, and disorderly conduct. The teen’s attorney entered a plea of not guilty for his client and asked the court to reconsider the charges. The judge did not grant him his request.

McMillan’s 6-week old puppy, who suffers an injured front paw, did not make the police report.

“At this point we are not concerned with a puppy,” said Zabaleta.

video here:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/black-14-year-old-carrying-puppy-tackled-and-choked-police-giving-them-dehumanizing

It is sad what happened to the kid.

I see more in that report than just a kid thrown down by some power hungry cops.

It's being portrayed as racial.

If, it was a white kid thrown down by negro cops, the headline would have read something like Teen cited for resisting arrest.

There would have been no mention of the kids race. Why not? Cuz reporting that 2 negro cops slammed down a white kid would have been construed as racism towards the negro cops.

In this headline, I read the story, it YELLS "BLACK" kid. Why? Cuz, the reporters want it to be racial.

Maybe, it wasn't racial.

Maybe, it was just 2 a$$wipe cops wanting to show they power over the masses.

i agree with you, and the sad fact is that it does seem racial... but the main point isn't really about color, thats just a way to get the heat off the cops that are acting like bullies... they want that to be ok, but the racial part is what they want people to focus on, not the police acting acting like azzholes...

That was a step too far. A policeman choking someone. Paranoia in it's ugliest form.

what is worse, they weren't reprimanded for it... choke a kid, it's ok...sad...