Rochester police seen on camera brutally pepper-spraying 9-year-old girl

This is NOT the way we wanted to start Black History Month.

Source: SOPA Images / Getty

Police are not to be trusted under any circumstances and while they may lament that fact it is entirely their fault. The public-at-large, especially Black folks, have seen thousands of abuses of power and this is just another sad example. Rochester police are under investigation for pepper-spraying a 9-year-old girl while responding to a call about “family trouble” according to NBCNews.

The body camera footage of the incident was released in order to help quell the public uprising but people are mad as hell and they aren’t going to be quiet about it. Officers were called when it was reported that the girl posed a threat to herself and her mother. The video below captures what happened in the aftermath of that call.

The Mayor of Rochester, Lovely Warren, gave authority to an investigation of the unidentified officers involved saying:

“This is not something that any of us should want to justify,” Warren said, adding that she saw “her baby’s face” when she looked at the 9-year-old girl.

It should come as no surprise that police union president Mike Mazzeo defended his officers’ actions and made excuses for why this took place:

“I’m not saying there are not better ways to do things,” Mazzeo told the newspaper. “But let’s be realistic about what we’re facing. … It’s not TV, it’s not Hollywood. We don’t have a simple (situation), where we can put out our hands and have somebody be instantly handcuffed and comply.”

If there are better ways to do things, Sgt. Swine, then employ those ways and don’t terrorize children. If your officers can’t subdue a 9-year-old then they should quit their jobs and find another gig. Don’t be mad, UPS is hiring.