The friends and family of five youths began rallying protests in the city of Grand Rapids after police stopped them at gunpoint as they were simply walking down the street last month, and the public got to see what when body-cam and in-car video footage of the incident was released this past week.
Eight officers would appear to find the five adolescent age boys laying belly down on the ground on March 24, and they followed through with detainment procedure until their parents were later contacted and they were let go from the back of a police cruiser on the scene. Upon the footage's release, fellow officers and police brass continued to support the offending officer's actions, with the police union calling for an end to angry demonstrations, and Police Chief David Rahinsky proclaiming that, "The officers didn't do anything wrong."
Officer Caleb Johnson reports having pulled up to the boys while on the search for a suspect who was accused of having a gun at a local park. The recording taken off of Johnson shows the moment he gets out of the cruiser and raises the barrel of his gun from behind its door/window. The boys would comply, although a couple seemed too startled to budge at first. They could be heard crying and consoling one another as Johnson continues to instruct them step by step, from the ground to their feet, with hands on their head, before they began walking backward to the authorities.
"They acted on articulate facts from a witness moments earlier who said he saw them hand a gun to each other," Chief Rahinsky has said in defense of Johnson and the other officers.. "I think when the community sees what we've seen -- with the body worn camera footage; I think they'll have a different opinion. I respect their emotion. I think what we're hearing is a lot of grief and frustration to systemic issues."
The incident remains under investigation by the department.
Source: youtube.com
