Phoenix mayor apologises after US police threaten to shoot black family
 

There is a video on the link https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48660143

The mayor of the US city of Phoenix has apologised after a video allegedly showing police threatening to shoot a black family went viral.

Officers were responding to an alleged shoplifting incident last month when the video was recorded.

The parents say they did not notice that their four-year-old daughter had taken a doll from a Dollar Store.

Mayor Kate Gallego said the officers' actions were "completely inappropriate and clearly unprofessional".

In the video, officers can be seen shouting at the family to get out of their vehicle before threatening to shoot them.

A woman, Iesha Harper, can then be seen emerging from the car with two young children. The children are handed to a bystander and Ms Harper is arrested.

The footage also shows another man, Dravon Ames, being kicked in the legs as he is handcuffed by an officer.

Ms Gallego said in a statement: "There is no situation in which this behaviour is ever close to acceptable. As a mother myself, seeing these children placed in such a terrifying situation is beyond upsetting.

"I am deeply sorry for what this family went through and I apologise to our community."

She said that the city was speeding up the implementation of body-worn cameras. A community meeting about the incident will also be held on Tuesday.

Ms Harper, who is pregnant, told CNN: "I really thought he was going to shoot me in front of the kids."

She said that she gave her two children to a bystander as she "didn't trust the police".

Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams said on local news that she was "sorry this incident happened" and that it was being investigated.

The officers involved have been assigned desk duty while the investigation takes place.

saw this yesterday, that cop was crazed

An all too common situation sadly and one that could have easily been avoided had the cops had any sense and weren't, you know, obviously racist.

Incidents like this will keep on happening and unlike this one, others will be fatal incidents. The system needs to change, they need to do a better job of weeding out racists and other bigots who will put people at harm who they are biased against.

...I watched this earlier this morning, so terrifying for the family...they completely complied and yet all the police showed toward them was aggression and hostility...

Imagine being black in America, you'd think twice before calling the police

they did not see the kids as i understand it and looking into a darkly lit car were rightly worried that the perps could shoot them.

When you wake up every day knowing that some perp could shoot you in the face for a small annual salary it makes you cautious

I hope the family understand that they were just doing their job protecting citizens with their lives (and they get back to work asap)

Power crazed lunatics, it’s scary that these sorts of people are paid to carry weapons, idiotic

I mean American racists dont need kkk, they can join the police instead

Not as cautious as knowing there’s every chance you could get shot by trigger happy racists because of your skin colour

...’I’m going to shoot you in your face’ is exactly what one of the cops threatened to do to the father of the family...

God Bless America :umm2::crazy: .

When I heard about this yesterday it sounded beyond insane & farfetched . I didn't want to believe it.

Alot of cops in America sound NOTHING like cops , it's like they're trigger happy incompetent unhinged thugs !!! .

...when the father did exactly what was demanded of him and he got out of the car with his hands in the air against his vehicle and it was perfectly light so the officer could see him clearly and see his compliance clearly...he still pushed his legs from under him so that he fell to the ground...for no reason other than he could...

But he was just doing his job!! :oh:

...but fortunately it was being recorded by at least one member of the public...

calling people racists who are not is not a nice thing to do. people should not steal from honest retailers is what you should be angry about

...something tells me he should maybe think of a career move, I reckon...not quite the job for him...

Where did you see that? Do you have a source?

Oh yes, a child picking something up when their parents are distracted definitely calls for threats of a bullet in the face, totally

Unfortunately, I think he’s in the perfect job, they love a sociopath do the American police

Very true
Idk how they recruit there but bc of that American police has awful reputation around the world

...it is disturbing how he’s acting on the vid I have to say... four yr old child takes a doll from a shop so an officer of the law threatens to shoot her father in the face ...really no balance to that incident at all...

Threatening to shoot someone in the face for complying isn't nice but you're defending that.

How do you know the Police Officer isn't racist though?

i dont and neither does Liam and that is my point i am making