- A viral video of a
New Jersey mall fight between two teens has sparked outrage. - Police were filmed pinning down the Black teenager, while the white teen sat on a nearby couch.
A video of police officers breaking up a fight at a New Jersey mall has sparked anger over accusations that law enforcement treated the two teenagers involved in the scuffle — one Black and one white — differently.
In a video documenting the fight at the Bridgewater Commons mall in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, the teens can be seen getting into a verbal argument.
"Get your hand out of my face," the Black teen said.
They then begin shoving each other, and a physical fight breaks out. The Black teen is thrown on the floor by the white teen during the fight. Two police officers — one male and one female — arrive.
The female officer pushes the white teen onto a nearby couch and motions for him to stay there. At the same time, the male officer tackles the Black teen to the floor, sitting on him and handcuffing him, while the female officer quickly kneels on his back to keep him down on the ground.
"It's cause he's Black. Racially motivated," someone can be heard saying in the video's background.
The white teen is then seen standing over the Black teen while the officers handcuff the Black teen. As the video ends, the Black teen is hauled to his feet while the white teen sits on the couch.
Local ABC affiliate ABC 7 reported that the fight involved a Black eighth grader, identified as Kye, and a white high schooler whose name has not been released.
"They basically tackled me to the ground, and then the male officer put his knee in my back, and then he started putting me in cuffs," Kye told ABC 7. "Then the female officer came over and put her knee on my upper back too, and started helping him put cuffs on me while he was just sitting down on the couch watching the whole thing."
Kye's mother, Eboné, told ABC 7 that she was grateful that her son was OK but wanted the two police officers fired.
"I had to watch it on mute. I still haven't watched it and listened to the sound, I'm baby-stepping my way into watching it, but it's just crazy," she said.
"It doesn't take two cops to hold a 14-year-old boy down who is not resisting, while the other boy is just going free and still going off on my son. It just doesn't make sense," Eboné told NBC in an interview on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a letter from Bridgewater Township Mayor Matthew Moench said an investigation had been launched over the incident.
"The Township Administration is aware of a video circulating on social media involving some young people and officers of the Bridgewater Police Department," Moench wrote. He added that the local prosecutor's office would be conducting an "independent review" of the incident with the police department's support.
"Although an investigation is still gathering the facts about this incident, I'm deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted on Wednesday. "We're committed to increasing trust between law enforcement and the people they serve."
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the Bridgewater Township Police Department said it was aware of the incident.
"We recognize that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation," the police department's statement said.
The Bridgewater Township Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.