Kaia Rolle, a six-year-old girl from Florida, made headlines after a video surfaced, showing her being arrested at the Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy Charter School.
The incident, which took place in late 2019, is now causing a heated debate because the family has decided to release the video to the media.
The clip is rather odd because the 6-year-old Florida girl could be seen sitting down quietly listening to a teacher reading a book when the Orlando cops arrested her.
The authorities were called to the school after the little girl threw a tantrum and hit three employees.
The footage showed officer Dennis Turner telling a school employee: “She’s going to have to come with us now.”
Turner turned to the child and said: “Stand up, stand up … come over here.” A weeping Kai asked: “What are those for?” Turner told her: “It’s for you.”
Despite the fact that she had calmed down, Orlando police officers decided to restrain her with zip ties. The first-grader could be seen breaking down in tears as she is taken to the police car.
The girl also begged the police officers not put her in restraints, but one of them told her:
“It’s not going to hurt.”
Kai still weeping responded by: “No, no, I don’t want handcuffs on! No, don’t put handcuffs on! Please! You don’t want to? Please — give me a second chance! Please, let me go!”
Kaia was taken to a county juvenile center where she was processed, and her mugshot and fingerprints were taken.
The child was forced to stand on a stool in order for the police to take her booking photo. The girl was hit with a charge of misdemeanor battery, which was later dropped.
It is worth noting the day Turner arrested Kai, and he also arrested a 6-year-old boy at the school for misdemeanor battery.
The girl’s grandmother, Meralyn Kirkland, spoke to the media and explained why the family released the footage: “I knew that what they did was wrong, but I never knew she was begging for help. I watched her break.”
Kirkland blames Kaia’s outburst in class on the fact that she suffered from sleep apnea.
A spokesperson for the school issued a statement saying that the administrators did not have plans to press charges against the child.
Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon spoke to the press and said he was “appalled” by Turner’s actions and revealed that he has since been fired.
Rolon stated: “As a grandfather of three children less than 11 years old, I can only imagine how traumatic this was for everyone involved. We could fathom the idea of a 6-year-old being put in the back of a police car.”
It has been confirmed that Turner was axed for violating the agency policy for arresting children younger than 12 without a supervisor’s approval.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSvWz6t3tfs/
