Virginia cop under fire for telling middle schoolers when they turn 18, “then you’re mine”
A Richmond, Virginia police officer is under fire for allegedly telling middle schoolers “Wait until your asses turn 18, then you're mine.”
A disturbing comment made by a Richmond, Virginia, police officer to a group of middle schoolers has ignited an investigation and left a community outraged when he declared, “Wait until your asses turn 18, then you’re mine.”
Cameron Hillard, 13, said she was among the group of students outside of Albert Hill Middle School on March 28 who witnessed an officer pull up in a patrol car and address the students who were walking to an after-school program.
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Hillard recorded the video and said she heard someone in the group yelled out “f— the police.”
In response, Cameron said the officer told the group to “man up.” He then said: “Wait until your asses turn 18, then you’re mine,” and drive off.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Richmond Police Department told NBC News that the department is well aware of the viral video of the officer’s unsettling comment.
“The Department takes these concerns very seriously,” the spokesman said in a statement. “The officer in the video is currently being investigated by the Internal Affairs Division.”
Hillard and her mom Keisha Curry addressed the situation in a video posted to YouTube and said sadly growing up in Richmond, alarming comments like that were made by police all the time.
“Being that I was brought up and raised in Hillside Court and the Highland Park area, I found that officers acted like that on a regular basis,” Curry said in the YouTube video.
The officer’s name hasn’t been released but according to reports, he is white and the students were Black.
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Curry wants the cop reprimanded for his insensitive comment. She also believes dialogue needs to take place between law enforcement, state officials and parents to flesh out a solution.
Curry also is open to meeting with the officer “to unite both sides and figure it out.”
“I don’t feel he needs to lose his job,” Curry said Tuesday. “He just shouldn’t be patrolling –the streets.”
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney condemned the cop’s behavior.
“I trust that the Richmond Police Department will conduct a quick and thorough investigation and respond accordingly,” Stoney said in a statement. “This behavior is unacceptable. It reinforces stereotypes of our communities that are hurtful and damages the relationship between our police department and the citizens they are charged to serve.”
