Video shows Chicago police handcuffing unarmed 10-year-old black boy

The video shows family pleading to uncuff the child, who is clearly frightened and later cries upon release

Chicago police say they are investigating an incident where police officers handcuffed a 10-year-old black boy, causing him to urinate himself and then cry as his family told police that the handcuffs were completely unnecessary.

The circumstances were caught on camera, showing the frightened 10-year-old — identified later as Michael Thomas Jr — quietly sitting on the hood of a car after police secured his arms behind his back. Police say they had received a call that a young boy they say matched his description had been “passing out a gun”.

“They’re telling them that someone called them saying that there is a 12-year-old black kid on a bike with all blue on had a gun,” an uncle, Victor, is heard saying in the video. “There was about five little black boys with all blue on.”

Michael’s grandmother can also be heard in the video telling police that the 10-year-old was clearly not armed.

“You can see that he doesn’t have any weapons on him,” she said in the footage. “I raised up my grandbaby’s shirt. He don’t have anything on him. Take those handcuffs off of him.”

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson backed up his officers and their actions Wednesday, but said that he can understand the emotional trauma Michael’s mother and grandmother must have felt during the incident.

“The call came out as a young man, 10 to 12 years old, that was passing out a gun. And the description fully matched the individual that they stopped,” he said. “Now keep in mind, it is difficult for an officer to tell right off the bat if you’re 10 years old, 12 years old, 14 — that’s just difficult to do. So they handcuffed the kid for safety reasons because he did match that description.”

“They followed all the rules and protocols we have in place so I’m not concerned about that,” he continued. “The one thing I will say is this: Anytime you have to interact, for a law enforcement standpoint, with a child that young it’s difficult, you know. So, I can only imagine the mother’s and grandmother’s anguish that that child had to go through that situation.”

Mr Johnson noted that is police department was investigating the incident in case there was any misunderstanding.

People present during the handcuffing say that it took the police at least 15 minutes to take the handcuffs off.

Before they were finally removed, an officer is heard in the video explaining that they had handcuffed the 10-year-old so that he could not run away, and because he had run away when they showed up at the scene.