Video of officers handcuffing and using pepper spray on a nine-year-old black girl in Rochester, New York, sparked new outrage over law enforcement methods .
Read also: United States: justice closes the investigation into the death of a black boy killed by the police
According to Deputy Police Chief Andre Anderson, the girl, whose identity has not been revealed, was suffering from an urgent mental health crisis, apparently threatening to commit suicide and kill her mother.
Police called to the scene on Friday reacted by handcuffing her, before trying to force her into a car and use pepper spray when she resisted, according to camera footage carried by officers, released. Sunday by the city police.
The police said it was to ensure the safety of the girl that they were "
forced
" to use handcuffs and pepper spray.
But Rochester's black mayor Lovely Warren has condemned the use of force against a child, promising an internal investigation into the city's law enforcement practices.
“
I have a ten-year-old child, he's a child, he's a baby.
As a mother, this video is not something you want to see,
”she said at a press conference on Sunday.
This is the second time in a year that Rochester police officers have been implicated in violence against African Americans, after the death in March of Daniel Prude, who fell into a coma and then died after being held on the ground by the police.
The police placed a canvas hood over his head, called a "
spit hood
", because he spat on them and claimed to have the coronavirus.
The death of Prude, who was also suffering from a mental health crisis at the time of her arrest, had sparked an investigation and major protests.
