Photo: Harry Wedzinga / iStock / Getty Images
A viral video showing a South Bend, Indiana, police officer restraining a crying Black girl face down on the ground has sparked outrage from community members and social media users.
According to Atlanta Black Star, the incident unfolded at roughly 1 p.m. on Friday (August 15) outside of a McDonald's after the teenage girl asked for a refund because workers weren't wearing hair nets, a violation of company policy.
The teen was leaving the restaurant peacefully when an officer, identified by witnesses as Caputa, grabbed her by the backpack and slammed her to the ground. South Bend Police said the girl was not arrested or handcuffed, but video shows the officer ordering her to “put your hands behind your back” while a bystander assists in restraining her.
“I didn’t do nothing! Please call my mom!” the girl repeatedly shouted as her arms were pinned behind her back.
The South Bend Fraternal Order of Police defended the officer's actions, saying critics were “gaslighting” the department by judging a short video without full context.
“The juvenile at best is held down for control purposes to prevent injury,” the union said in a statement.
The department has yet to release body camera footage, prompting further backlash as the South Bend City Council recently increased public access fees for body cam footage to as much as $75 per video.
Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said the department is investigating the incident and will release the video “as soon as possible."
“The very people who are supposed to protect our children are traumatizing them instead,” Black Lives Matter of South Bend wrote in a statement. “We demand transparency—and we demand it now.”
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