Black Lives Matter Sacramento and a family alleged that cops "attacked" an 11-year-old Black boy during Kids Day at the California State Fair. Black Lives Matter Sacramento, Greater Sacramento NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Elijah Hunter's family, and their attorney gathered at a news conference to demand policy changes at Cal Expo, which hosted the state fair.
The organization issued a statement, saying that Hunter was brutally attacked and had his rights violated by Cal Expo police while attending the fair with friends and family.
Cal Expo did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, August 2. Cal Expo spokesperson Darla Givens did release a statement to KCRA, saying that Hunter suffered a small cut. Police stopped him because he was climbing a fence and trying to steal from vendors.
Elijah's mom not allowed inside interrogation room
A spokeswoman for Black Lives Matter Sacramento said Hunter was horseplaying while lining up with his friends, while they all pretended to be cutting in front of each other at the fair. She added that police tackled Hunter while his friends were not. She pointed out that Elijah is Black, and his friends are white.
The spokeswoman noted that Hunter was later taken into the interrogation room while his mom begged to be allowed to join him but was denied. Inside, Hunter signed a trespassing document stating that he was banned from the fair.
According to the spokeswoman, no amount of horseplay validates grown police officers in tackling and beating a child. Black Lives Matter Sacramento demands that the officers involved in the incident be fired and charged with child abuse.
The officers for the state fair's police detail are off-duty officers from other departments, and it is unclear to which departments the involved officers belonged. Hunter's mother, Cynthia Martin, said at the news conference that her son's shirt was covered in blood after police tackled him, according to NBC News.
The violence inflicted on Hunter is appalling
Martin said they knew they injured him because they provided the first aid before they even made it to Kaiser hospital, where her son received further treatment. Black Lives Matter Sacramento said an attorney for the family had started the process of filing a lawsuit against those involved in the beating.
They released a statement, saying that the violence inflicted on 11-year-old Hunter is appalling and has impacted him physically and emotionally. The organization added that there is no reason for a mostly idle police department to treat a kid as a criminal.
Greater Sacramento NAACP president, Betty Williams, said the cops discriminated against Hunter because he is a Black male, according to Cap Radio. She said that age didn't matter in this society and law enforcement. She added that he should never have been treated that way and pointed out that no other child within his group was brought into that facility.
