Florida, man.
In Jacksonville, Fla., JaxPAL is the city’s Police Athletic League. They sponsor a youth basketball league with the intended goal of creating “positive relationships between law enforcement officers and the youth of our community through educational, athletic and leadership programs.”
Would you like to know how that is going?
One of the law enforcement officers involved with the league placed an 11-year-old boy in handcuffs on Saturday because the boy reportedly would not stop bouncing a basketball.
Bunmi Borisade told News4Jax that a little girl came up to her in the gym and told her that her son, Fatayi Jomoh—who was in another part of the gym—was being arrested.
“You can’t be serious,” Borisade said and headed over to see what the issue was.
When she got there, the officer reportedly told her, “He was being disrespectful.”
The officer said he asked Fatayi, an honor roll student, repeatedly to stop bouncing a basketball, and when he wouldn’t listen, the officer handcuffed him.
Borisade filed a complaint with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and said she believes the officer acted so forcefully because she was not by her son’s side. JSO confirmed that Borisade’s complaint was received on Tuesday and is and is being reviewed by internal affairs.
Borisade said she asked the officer why he didn’t come get her when her son didn’t stop bouncing the ball. She told News4Jax that Fatayi didn’t deserve to be placed in handcuffs—and as a result, he is now afraid of the police.
That is the exact opposite of what JaxPAL claims their mission is.
Borisade said the incident has ruined her image of police as well.
Add to the list of things you can’t do as a young, carefree black child: bounce a basketball in a gym where basketball is being played because it annoys a police officer and he just might put you in handcuffs to teach you a lesson.