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The mother of a 14-year-old black boy who was thrown to the floor and handcuffed by a group of police officers on their way home from school in the event of a misidentification feared that her asthmatic son would be the next George Floyd and killed while he was detained. from the police.
Des-Sean Joseph was stopped by police in south London on Thursday after officers said he matched the description of a suspect in the nearby robbery.
Police, searching for a black man in a blue hood, buttoned up Des-Sean, who was wearing a gray top over his school uniform, and forced him to step on the ground in front of the Blackhorse Road tram stop in Croydon.
As officers detained the child, one kneeling at his feet and the other holding his hands behind his back, concerned passers-by stopped to film the incident and question the police’s attitude.
De Sean, who suffers from asthma, called his mother’s phone number to a woman who was watching the incident, and she called Janet Joseph, who was leaking to the scene.
When she arrived, her son was handcuffed on the floor, and she said she was “worried that my son would be the next George Floyd.”
“I was upset and scared,” De-Sean told ITV News in an interview with his mother. “I thought I was going to die.”
He added: “I was curious because I didn’t do anything wrong and they just stopped me for no reason.”
14-year-old Des-Sean Joseph, held on the ground by police officers during a stop and search with a false identity on Thursday
Officers had stolen his phone, handcuffed it and nailed it to the wall without explanation, De-Shan told ITV News.
Doctors say Des-Sean has bruises on his back. In addition to physical injuries, he was left to feel mentally traumatized by the accident.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” Ms. Joseph told ITV News.
“It’s the same old story – every black boy fits the description,” Ms. Joseph said. “There is no excuse for what they did to my son and for the excessive force they used on a 14-year-old black man.”
Officers later released him without arrest after admitting he was the wrong man.
Police said that after an initial inspection of the incident, including a worn camera, it was carried out by the Metropolitan’s Professional Standards Directorate and “it is not an obvious misconduct.”
A statement from the forces added: “However, a public complaint has been lodged and will be thoroughly investigated by the professional standards department.”
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