(Reuters) – Two New Jersey police officers have come under investigation for their response to a fight between two teenagers at a shopping mall, with critics accusing them of racial bias for apparently treating the Black youth involved in the altercation more harshly than the white youth.
A video that went viral on social media showed two teenagers fighting in a sitting area at the Bridgewater Commons Mall this weekend when the two officers arrived. One officer sat the white teen on a couch while the other threw the Black teen to the ground, placed his knee on his back and handcuffed him.
The Black 8th grader, identified only as Kye, told a local ABC affiliate the fight began after he tried to stop the other teenager, a high school student, from picking on his friend.
Kye’s mother called for the officers to lose their jobs over the incident. “I want them to become unemployable,” she said.
The white teenager was not identified and could not be reached for comment.
The use of force by police against Black men in the United States has prompted demands for more training for officers and reforms in how law enforcement approaches interactions that have the potential to escalate.
Governor Phil Murphy addressed the incident on Twitter on Wednesday night after the Office of the Somerset County Prosecutor said in a statement that its internal affairs unit had launched an investigation.
“I’m deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video,” Murphy said. “We’re committed to increasing trust between law enforcement and the people they serve.”
The Bridgewater Township Police Department declined to comment except to say it was aware of the video of the officers stopping the fight at the mall.
“We recognize that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation,” it said in statement.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Howard Goller)
