Photo: Getty Images
The Winter Haven Police Department in Florida is facing backlash after a viral photo appeared to show an officer pointing a gun at a Black toddler lying on the ground with her hands behind her back, per Atlanta Black Star.
The photo stems from the department's response to a 911 call on Tuesday (March 4) regarding a disturbance involving a gun at a local market. During a fight with a store employee, police said a man, identified as Godfrey Hercules ll, pulled out a gun.
The man, however, didn't open fire and left the scene in his car with his girlfriend, Mariah Banks, and her three-year-old daughter. Hercules was later apprehended after being stopped by police. Body camera footage shows officers encountering Banks and her child and shouting orders to get on the ground.
Banks complied, and her daughter followed suit, laying on the ground and putting her hands behind her back. Video taken by a bystander appeared to show an officer pointing his gun at the mother and child while they were lying on the ground.
The mother was handcuffed, detained, and taken into the back of a police vehicle before her child told the officers, "Don't kill us."
“I’m not, I promise,” an officer said. “I promise I won’t.”
In a statement addressing the viral incident, police denied pointing the gun at the three-year-old.
“Officers responded with an appropriate level of caution with the understanding there was a weapon involved seeking to resolve the situation," the statement reads.
“When approaching Hercules and Banks, officers could not have known who was in possession of the firearm. As soon as the officer approaching Banks became aware of the presence of the child, he immediately pointed his firearm towards the ground at a low-ready position. At no point was the officer’s weapon pointed at the child as confirmed by multiple cameras.”
Winter Haven Police Chief Vance Monroe also addressed the backlash from the incident after the footage went viral.
“The optics are terrible,” Monroe said. “I truly wish that this child was not exposed to this.”
“Ms. Banks went to the ground. Her daughter just went to the ground with her. We did not order her daughter to the ground,” he added.
Banks said her daughter was following the officer's orders.
“I honestly feel like she was following their directions because when they yelled ‘get down’ everybody had no option but to get down because they had guns pointed at us,” Banks said.
Banks was later released without being arrested. Police said the responding officers gave the child candy and a sticker to calm her down during her mother's detainment.
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