West Yorkshire (United Kingdom) police officers face accusations of manhandling a distressed 16-year-old autistic girl for allegedly using a ‘homophobic slur.’
The teenager, who reportedly also suffers from scoliosis, allegedly said a police officer ‘looked like a lesbian.’
In shocking footage, seven officers arrested the girl after she allegedly said a ‘female officer looked like her lesbian nana.’
The incident occurred early Monday morning, and the girl’s mother uploaded the footage to TikTok.
The horrific video showing police officers drag the girl away has gone viral on social media.
“This is what police do when dealing with autistic children. My daughter told me the police officer looked like her nanna who is a lesbian. The officer obviously took it the wrong way and said it was a homophobic comment (it wasn’t)…the officer then entered my home and assaulted me. My daughter was having panic attacks from being touched by them and they still continued to manhandle her,” the video read.
“I also explained to them she has severe scoliosis and a twisted spine so them pulling at her arms will cause her extreme pain in her shoulders,” the video later read.
WATCH:
UK 🇬🇧, this may be one of the most uncomfortable videos I've had to watch. This is what hate speech legislation that prioritises certain groups over others, looks like in action, poor child 😢 @HMcEntee #binthebill pic.twitter.com/u7B54r7BJ0
— KellyS (@kellysin113) August 9, 2023
Daily Mail reports:
The girl’s mother says: ‘She’s made a comment in her own house, she hasn’t said anything to you.’
The mother repeats ‘she’s autistic’, to which the officer responds: ‘I don’t care.’
The girl then makes some noises, which her mother explains was her punching herself in distress.
The officers remain in the hallway as the mother shouts out: ‘You’re going to remove her for what, she said the word lesbian? Her nana is a lesbian, she’s married to a woman. She’s not homophobic.’
A male officer intervenes, saying a homophobic comment had been made to his colleague.
Eventually more officers arrive and the girl screams and wails as she is detained.
West Yorkshire Police said a relative of the girl had earlier called to say she was intoxicated in Leeds city centre, after which they took her home.
West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Oz Khan said: ‘We are aware of a video circulating on social media which, as is often the case, only provides a very limited snapshot of the circumstances of this incident.
ADVERTISEMENT‘Officers had their body-worn video cameras activated during their wider involvement with this young girl which provides additional context to their actions.
‘We have received a complaint in relation to this incident which is currently being assessed by West Yorkshire Professional Standards Directorate.
‘While that ongoing process and the active criminal investigation limit our ability to fully discuss the incident in detail, we feel it is important for people to have some context about the circumstances.
BREAKING NEWS🚨
West Yorks Police say 'bodycam footage' justifies arrest of autistic young young girl over 'Lesbian' comments.
"Comments were made which resulted in the girl being arrested on suspicion of a homophobic public order offence." pic.twitter.com/eF4DsNJKNi
— UNN (@UnityNewsNet) August 10, 2023
“It is very upsetting, just shows the consequences of the hate speech bill. She was arrested by the Yorkshire Police for hate speech, detained for 20 hours, and released, no adult was allowed in the interview, she just repeated no comment so they let her go, her mother has put in a complaint, this is my understanding from the mother’s comments on tictoc. This is the second time she shared the video as social media kept removing it, scary stuff,” Twitter user KellyS wrote.
It is very upsetting, just shows the consequences of the hate speech bill. She was arrested by the Yorkshire Police for hate speech, detained for 20 hours, and released, no adult was allowed in the interview, she just repeated no comment so they let her go, her mother has put in…
— KellyS (@kellysin113) August 9, 2023
Paul Joseph Watson provided additional commentary to the shocking footage:
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