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The mother of a 14-year-old black boy who was thrown to the ground and handcuffed by a group of police officers when he returned home from school in a case of misidentification, feared his asthmatic son would be the nearby George Floyd murdered while being detained by police.
De-Shaun Joseph was arrested Thursday by police in south London after officers said he matched the description of a suspect in a nearby robbery.
Officers, who were looking for a young black man in a blue sweatshirt, handcuffed De-Shaun, who was wearing a gray T-shirt over his school uniform, and forced him face down on the ground in front of the Blackhorse Road tram station in Croydon. .
When officers detained the boy, with one kneeling on his legs and another holding his hands on his back, concerned pedestrians stopped to film the incident and question police treatment.
De-Shaun, who suffers from asthma, called his mother’s phone number to a woman who was watching the incident, and called Janet Joseph, who ran to the scene.
When she arrived, her son was handcuffed to the ground and says she was “worried that my son was the next George Floyd.”
“He was upset and scared,” De-Shaun told ITV News in an interview alongside his mother. “I thought I was going to die.”
He added: “I was curious because I didn’t do anything wrong and they stopped me for no reason.”
De-Shaun Joseph, 14, detained on the ground by police officers in a detention and misidentification on Thursday
Officers had grabbed his phone, handcuffed him, and slammed him against the wall without explanation, De-Shan told ITV News.
Doctors say De-Shaun has suffered bruises on his back. In addition to physical injuries, he has been mentally traumatized by the incident.
“It’s the worst nightmare of all parents,” Mrs. Joseph told ITV News.
“It’s the same old story: all black boys fit the description,” Mrs. Joseph said. “There’s no excuse for what they did to my son and the excessive force they used on a 14-year-old black boy.”
Officers later released him without arrest, after admitting he was the wrong person.
Police said after an initial review of the incident, including the camera worn on the body, the Met’s Professional Standards Directorate has done and “there is no misconduct.”
A statement from the force adds: “However, a public complaint has been lodged and will be thoroughly investigated by the professional standards unit.”
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