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‘Dehumanizing stares,’ body language prompted arrest of Florida teen feeding puppy: cops
Police claim Tremaine McMillian was threatening and resisting officers after he was asked where his mother was. Cops subdued McMillian in a severe beatdown that the teen’s mother caught on camera.
Florida police say the “dehumanizing stares” a 14-year-old boy directed at officers together with his body language presented a threat, prompting an arrest and a brutal take down by cops — that was caught on video by the teen’s mother.
Tremaine McMillian claims he was just having fun on Haulover Beach in Miami on Memorial Day Monday when police patrolling the beach on ATVs saw the teen rough housing with a friend - and stopped to intervene, WBFS-TV reported
McMillian says he was bottle-feeding his tiny puppy when police approached him. He said he urinated on himself as officers choked him.
“I feel that should never have happened,” McMillian told the TV station. “I don’t like it. I feel sad. He got in front of me on the ATV and he slammed my hand. Then he started choking me. Then my 6-week old pit bull mix named Polo got hurt and bruised his front paw when the police grabbed me and slammed me down. It makes me feel sad.”
But Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said McMillian’s “behavior was unacceptable” and that the teen resisted officers, who asked him repeatedly where his parents were.
“Of course we have to neutralize the threat,” Zabaleta said. “When you have somebody resistant to them and pulling away and somebody clenching their fists and flailing their arms, that’s a threat.”
McMillian, who faced a robbery charge once before, now faces felony resisting arrest with violence and disorderly conduct. He pleaded not guilty in court and is scheduled for trial in juvenile court July 16.
“I ran over with my son and used my cellphone when I saw my son and he couldn’t breathe,” his mother Maurissa Holmes said. “There was no reason to slam him on the ground like that the way they did. He’s a child, not an adult. For them to jump off their ATV and do this, this is wrong. I want justice. You don’t do that to a child.”
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