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“It Burns!": Rochester Releases More Videos Of 9-Year-Old Girl Pepper-Sprayed By Police
By
David Cruz
Published Feb 12, 2021
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Rochester Police
By
David Cruz
Published Feb 12, 2021
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The City of Rochester released more body-cam videos showing the moments before and after a 9-year-old girl was pepper-sprayed by Rochester police last month, an incident that's drawn condemnation from around the world.
At one point, the girl says, "Officer, please don’t do this to me," only for an officer to reply, "You did it to yourself, hon."
The extended, though redacted, body-camera videos from multiple responding officers was released Thursday upon after Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren pushed for their release in the name of transparency. The incident happened on a snowy January 29th after officers were responding to a "family dispute" between the 9-year-old girl and her mother, who originally called the police after her boyfriend allegedly stole her car.
The girl, wanting nothing to do with the mother, had left the house. Officers caught up to her and eventually handcuffed her after they reportedly heard her threatening to hurt herself and her mother. (The girl's mother, who told officers she is pregnant, apparently tried to hit the girl at one point.) As officers struggled to keep the little girl from running away, she's then aggressively placed inside a police vehicle.
The girl requests a "girl officer," prompting a female officer to arrive and explain to the girl to calm down as she attempts to bring her legs inside the police vehicle. At this point, officers begin to grow more frustrated by the agitated girl's pleas for her father and requests for officers to loosen her handcuffs.
One of the officers off camera can be heard saying, "she's crazy."
At that point, officers begin to threaten her with pepper spray.
"This is your last chance or pepper spray is going into your eyeballs," the female officer is heard saying.
"Just spray her," another officer can be heard off camera saying.
The officer opposite from the 9-year-old then sprays her face, causing her to scream in agony. The female officer immediately slams the door as the girl continues screaming.
Following the incident, the female officer asks the girl for her name, which she refuses to give. At one point she asks one of the officers to get away from her while also pleading for an ambulance, along with her parents, to arrive. In another video, the little girl turns to another officer to describe her pain."
"It burns!" the girl stresses.
"It's supposed to burn. It's called pepper spray," another officer can be heard saying.
The Democrat & Chronicle news outlet reported that it took 15 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and another 23 minutes for the police to remove the handcuffs.
Paramedics eventually arrive, with officers taking her out of the police vehicle and placing her on a stretcher. A paramedic then asks why the girl was sprayed, and the female officer says the girl was uncooperative.
The incident comes months after the Rochester Police Department is under investigation by the New York Attorney General's Office for the death of Daniel Prude, a mentally distressed man who died while in police custody. In both cases, the interaction involved white officers engaged with someone who is Black.
The latest incident prompted Governor Andrew Cuomo to call the incident "even more shocking and disturbing than the last."
"New Yorkers in every corner of the state are sickened by these actions and as a father of three daughters, I'm furious," Cuomo said. "There must be a thorough and competent investigation—period. This is symptomatic of a broader problem—the relationship between police and communities is damaged and needs to be fixed, and that's why we're requiring police departments statewide to reimagine their forces or forgo state funding. Officers are sworn to protect and serve and this horrific behavior can never be tolerated."
The Rochester Police Accountability Bureau has now opened an investigation into the incident, with officials still gathering all the evidence, including the video, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. The incident also comes two months before municipalities across the state are required to submit a report demonstrating how police departments will improve community relations or risk losing state funding.
The officer who pepper-sprayed the girl has been suspended and three other officers were placed on administrative leave.
Tagged
police department
rochester
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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