Activists in Somerset County gathered in front
of the Bridgewater Police Department Saturday afternoon to condemn how officers
handled a recent fight at the Bridgewater Commons Mall between a Black teen and a
Hispanic teen.
A
video of the incident appears to show two police officers
rush in and break up the fight. The Hispanic teen is pulled off of 14-year old
Z'Kye Husain and allowed to sit on a nearby couch.
The officers then appear to force Husain on the ground
and cuff him behind his back. One officer even appears to place her knee on the
teen’s neck. The Hispanic teen, who is lighter skinned, was not seen being put
into handcuffs.
Richard Smith, the president of the NAACP NJ Conference,
said the incident irrefutably showed “disparate treatment of an African
American in regard to dealings with the police.”
The People's Organization for Progress, which is gathering
around noon for a news conference, said it was a “case of racial profiling and
police brutality.”
Larry Hamm, the chair of the People's Organization for Progress, asked for the officers involved to be fired and for the mayor and City Council to issue an apology “to the family and to the Black community of Bridgewater.”
The group is also calling for a thorough review of policing in Bridgewater and a civilian police review board, locally and statewide.
The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the
situation.