Sunday’s cell phone video that has since gone viral when teenagers were being detained.
The youth – Malik Aaron, Aaron Frederickson and Greg Kim – say another group of teenagers stole from a store.
The trio was told that they could not leave the store while other customers did.
Greg says that a Target employee approached them and asked if they needed help. When they said no, the official said to them, “We can’t leave you hanging around.” He said they were stopped by security when they walked towards the exit.
They say that at a certain point, a store employee blocked the exit with shopping carts.
Some of the teenagers started recording as soon as the deputies arrived.
“As soon as they saw that I was recording, one of the officers really started to get aggressive with me and took my phone out of my hand,” said Malik Aaron.
“The policeman threw me in the car and told me to shut up after he threw me in the car,” said Malik. “And my feet were still out of the vehicle and he had just slammed the door on my feet.”
Target issued an apology saying in part:
“… we deeply regret what happened and we fired the security team member who was involved. What happened to these guests is in direct opposition to the inclusive experience that we want all of our guests to have. Our security team member acted and interrupted those guests, violating Target’s security procedures. “
Target added that all store leaders will resume mandatory safety and racial prejudice training.
“We were immediately considered criminals,” said Aaron Frederickson.
The families plan to file a civil suit against Target and the sheriff’s department.
The sheriff’s department made no comment.
In that case, the teenagers were not arrested.
According to a California Department of Justice study in 2019, black children represented 21% of juvenile prisons, but only 5% of the population.
“You know that micro-aggressions are real,” said Malik’s mother, La Shaun Aaron. “Our children experience them every day.”
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