14-year-old Boy Carrying a Puppy Tackled and Choked by Police in Miami

Well. It looks like now even if you look at a Police Officer you can be tackled choked and arrested.

A 14-year-old boy has accused police of over-reacting after they pinned him to the ground and choked him for allegedly giving them 'dehumanising stares'.

Officers tackled unarmed Tremaine McMillian to the ground and pinned him there by his neck on Haulover Beach in Miami, Florida, in scenes captured on camera by his mother.

In interviews Tremaine said he was merely walking along the beach, feeding his puppy from a bottle, when police riding all-terrain vehicles swooped late on Monday morning.

Apparently the police had said they had seen the boy body slamming another teenager on the beach. Boys rough and tumble it is what they do. The police then realised it was not a fight but then for some reason the police wanted to take him back to his parents. Apparently the boys body language changed and he muttered something as they reached out to hold him. And that was seen as resisting an officer. Which meant he had to be taken into custody. But the way they arrested him was over the top and a little harsh... And during the arrest the boys 6 week old puppy was knocked out of his arms and allegedly hurt his paw. The boy said that he even urinated on himself as they were choking him because he could not breathe..

What Tremaine says:

'I asked, why, and he told me, because he said so, and I asked why again,' Tremaine told WSVN. 'That's when he told me, "Show me where your mom's at".'

He said he was following the orders and leading them to his mother when police leapt from their vehicle, slapped the puppy from his hand, grabbed him and slammed him to the ground.

He says his puppy, Marco, was injured in the attack and in television interviews the animal can be seen wincing as he touches its paw.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Video:


It does seem to me that police were overreacting. There was no need for them to him arrest him the way they did. He did not do anything wrong. Also he is 14 years old. Maybe if he had actually threatened the police with violence and was 20 years old then I could understand if police arrested him like that..

Peace
Fluff

Totally over the top response. I expect leo's to match increasing resistance with increasing force, not go straight to take-down and incapacitate, whatever the circumstances. It's not as if the 14 yr old matched either of the officers in size, or was holding a weapon and had to be stopped immediately.

Aw, I hope the puppy is ok...

Originally posted by fluff007

A 14-year-old boy has accused police of over-reacting after they pinned him to the ground and choked him for allegedly giving them 'dehumanising stares'.

Over-reaction? This is clearly assault.

reply to post by iunlimited491


I think the puppy is ok. In the video you see the pup walking around and he looks ok. But apparently he hurt his left front paw and did not like having it touched...

reply to post by Marsupilami


I was just quoting the article there. The poor lad even wet himself because he could not breathe. I do not know who the hell those police officers think they are. But you can not go round assaulting civilians and arresting them for no reason. The police are here to protect and serve us. I think many in the police force have forgotten their oath...

Nice. Grown men playing the "you lookin' at me?" game with a kid.

I wonder what percentage of people seek these positions for altruistic reasons vs the percentages of people who seek them out for the power or just to have a government job they can retire at 50 from.

Maybe 1/3 actually care 1/3 just want a job and dont care and 1/3 are sadistic assholes trying to make up for being picked on in school or trying to carry over their schoolyard bullying "glory" days.

And of that 2/3 who either dont care or actually want to do good how many slip into a numb funk after 5 years of this crap? 10 years? 20 years?

We have to come up with a "contempt of cop" test. If you fail you get catapulted into the ocean.

After listening to the video, I'm wondering what the problem is? The kid threw down another teenager (noted at 1:00 in the video) which is what brought cops to him in the first place. If he hadn't just committed physical assault on someone else, perhaps this wouldn't have happened to him?

To hear the rest of it...when asked to take the police to his parents, he gave them unlimited attitude...physically aggressive posturing and then, turned and tried to walk away. Umm.. Hello McFly? You just ASSAULTED someone ...the cops watched you do it ...and now they are being nice enough to ask to simply see your parents? Well, that would be a dandy time to comply, I'd think. Not play "Mr. Tough" and show the cops what you're made of. They found how little that was...pretty quickly.

Moral of the story? If someone doesn't want to get beat on? Don't beat on other people where the cops watch you do it, IMO.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


They were the adults in the situation. A 14 yr old giving off attitude while feeding a puppy from a bottle is the sort of thing that professionals should be able to roll their eyes at, not a reason to switch to Code Red and turn the hostility level up to 11.

reply to post by fluff007


Such an example they're setting to impressionable youngsters. I wonder how proud their families are of them after seeing this.

They're no more than immature bullies in a uniform. I'd be ashamed.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


The teenage boys were on a beach. One boy tackles another to the ground. I do not know about you but I have a younger brother and he was always (and still does) play fighting and messing about with Dad or his mates. It is what many young teenage boys do. If the boy had assaulted the other boy why isn't there a news article about that. The boy 'assaulted' did not walk up to the officers and say hey I just got assaulted can you do something.

Even my partner play fights with his mates and they are all 35 +...

Police reports say they then realised that no fight was going on, but Detective Zabaleta told CBS Miami that Tremaine refused to take officers to his parents and they were forced to leave their ATV to detain him as he started to leave the beach area.

According to the police report, Tremaine became combative and clenched his fist as police went to hold him. 'He attempted to pull his arm away, stating, "Man, don't touch me like I did something,"' the report ways.

Detective Zabaleta said Tremaine's actions indicated he was 'resisting officers' and meant he had to be taken into custody.

'Of course we have to neutralize the threat,' said the detective. 'When you have somebody resistant to them and pulling away and somebody clenching their fists and flailing their arms, that’s a threat.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

So the police were trying to man handle him to take him to his parents. On what grounds exactly. He did not do anything wrong. And like the boy said himself:

"Man, don't touch me like I did something,"

I think I would be the same if the police were trying to man handle me and take me to my parents for no reason.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Granted I cant watch the video right now but this:

Miami-Dade Police say they approached Tremaine because they saw him roughhousing with another teenager, although they admitted that as they approached officers realised there was not sort of fight going on.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

doesnt really sound like the cops were arresting a brutal attacker.

Seems to me it's completely unacceptable for just about anyone to tackle and hold a person for giving them attitude or lip. Should not be acceptable for cops either.

Doesnt appear that the police reaction had much to do at all with the "roughhousing" but a lot to do with the perceived disrespect.

reply to post by doobydoll




Agreed. I think it is ludicrous. Seriously. Have they got nothing better to do then assert their power over civilians.. It is sick. The lads were playing and messing about. Leave them to it. Not tackle them to the ground and choke one.

Ugh. The general mind set of the US Police is getting worse and worse. They are meant to protect and serve. Not harm and humiliate.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Dear me, chap - you clearly didn't read the story.

At first the cops thought he was engaging in a fight. They subsequently found out that it was just playing and messing about and that it was not actually a fight as they wrongly interpreted. But instead of leaving it there, they then decided to "take him back to his mother", which is when the following ensued...

I highly doubt that the 14 year old was of any threat to anybody, least of all burly grown men with guns professing to be the "police".

Damn it it the Gestapo mantality
The cops of America mostly all get taught they are lords of creation instead of public servants.
The assholes deserve a swift kick in the keyster and a place in an unemployment line, if not jail time.
I for one am sooo tired of this police attitude that it brings out the rage in me.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

doesnt really sound like the cops were arresting a brutal attacker.

Seems to me it's completely unacceptable for just about anyone to tackle and hold a person for giving them attitude or lip. Should not be acceptable for cops either.

Doesnt appear that the police reaction had much to do at all with the "roughhousing" but a lot to do with the perceived disrespect.

Agreed! But check out what the alleged disrespect and lip was...

Police reports say they then realised that no fight was going on, but Detective Zabaleta told CBS Miami that Tremaine refused to take officers to his parents and they were forced to leave their ATV to detain him as he started to leave the beach area.

According to the police report, Tremaine became combative and clenched his fist as police went to hold him. 'He attempted to pull his arm away, stating, "Man, don't touch me like I did something,"' the report ways.

Detective Zabaleta said Tremaine's actions indicated he was 'resisting officers' and meant he had to be taken into custody.

The whole situation is just insane. He did nothing wrong..!

Maybe they thought he had raw cows milk in the bottle

Although we don't have both sides of the story it is evident that the police used excessive force in this case. The policeman should be suspended and an investigation should be done, we can't have police that get that riled up so easily when dealing with kids.

Originally posted by fluff007

The whole situation is just insane. He did nothing wrong..!

Contempt of cop is punishable by beatings and even death as we have seen over the years.

The best part is that now the boy has learned to hate the police and that he is a target regardless of having done or not done anything wrong.

That alone is enough to destroy a life irreparably. How will the cops and the city make amends for that?
It's not unlike rape. This kid will likely be angry and fearful and very distrusting of authority from this point forward.

When a butterfly flaps its wings or when a cop beats a kid.

Originally posted by IvanAstikov
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

They were the adults in the situation. A 14 yr old giving off attitude while feeding a puppy from a bottle is the sort of thing that professionals should be able to roll their eyes at, not a reason to switch to Code Red and turn the hostility level up to 11.

There are stories across ATS almost weekly of teenagers in singles and groups overpowering and killing adults or beating them half to death. It sounded to me like this was on a beach in a crowd situation just to add to the fun for everyone ...so having a tough guy contest with a teenager was only going to encourage the crowd to pick sides and get real ugly. It sure happens. The kid should have been rather appreciative that they didn't take him to the ground before even saying hello, given how they'd apparently just watched him do it to someone else...and another teen at that.

I don't get how someone can assault another person ...then confront cops with anything but a cooperative attitude and figure it's going to end well?

so now even the "possibility" of resistance is enough to use force on someone?

here is what their PR officer(?) had to say. "once he's approaching the roadway they grab him, and then once his, body language of stiffening up, closing the fists, flaring his hands, trying to pull away. well now you're resisting an officer at that point. of course we have to neutralize a threat in front of us. and when you have somebody that is being resistant, that is somebody who is pulling away from you, somebody who is clenching their fists, somebody that's flaring their arms, that's the immediate threat. at this point we're not dealing or concerned with the puppy. what we're concerned about is the immediate threat towards the officer."

so they are saying they grabbed him and he "stiffened up, closed his fists. flared his hands and tried to pull away" um isn't that a normal instinctive type of reaction to being grabbed? but that was what warranted the force used against him. but not only that but wait a minute, wasn't the kid holding a puppy? if so how did the kid "close his fits, and flare his hands"? his hands or at least one of them was full of puppy, seems a little hard to do without dropping the puppy which they seem to admit to "slapping out of his hand".

even better heard from the arresting officer with his arm around the boy's neck, one cuff on, and NO visible movement from the boy we hear "everybody get back up, once he's in custody, stops resisting". yet while he says that i see no sign at all of resistance. in fact the officer sitting on him seems to just seems to need ONE hand to hold on the boy's wrist while gesturing with his other hand (is he the one we hear speaking?), without any apparent need of worrying about the kid "struggling" while he does this. does that say "resistance to you?

lets not forget that the kid was using deadly "dehumanizing stares" on the officers as well.

just another case of police abusing their power and getting their rocks off doing it. is it any wonder people are getting more and more scared of the police.