Police pin Black teen to the floor while they speak with white co-accused

White teen throws the Black teen on the floor, before police restrain the Black teen

A video of police breaking up a fight between two teens at a New Jersey mall has angered viewers, as the police appeared to rush to restrain the Black teen while leaving the white teen unrestrained sitting on a couch.

The fight, which took place at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in Bridgewater Township, shows teens filming their peers in an argument before things get physical and the pair start shoving then hitting each other.

The white teen throws the Black teen on the floor and the police arrive to break up the fight, the female officer pulls the white teen off the Black teen then tells him to “sit down”.

The female officer then goes over to help the male officer cuff the Black teen as he is being held on the floor, she further restrains the Black teen by putting her knee on his back, all while the white teen is being left on his own on the couch.

(Karina Stevens/ Facebook)

The white teen is able to watch the police cuff the Black teen as the person filming the video is heard saying “oh no” and “holy f**k, yo it’s because he’s Black – racially motivated”.

After cuffing the Black teen and hearing the comments, the female officer then walks over to the white teen who has stood up. The video ends there. It is so far unclear as to whether the white teen was ever cuffed.

The Black boy spoke to ABC7 about the ordeal, explaining that his seventh-grader friend was being picked on by the white boy, who was in the eighth grade.

“My friend was arguing with the older kid and so I kind of just jumped into a fight, and since he’s older, he was on top of me and he’s bigger,” said the boy. “I was just confused and mad about it.”

Bridgewater Police offered a statement about the incident. “Bridgewater Police Department is aware of a video on social media of our officers stopping a fight in progress at the Bridgewater Commons Mall,” it said in a statement on Facebook. “We recognise that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation. The officers were able to respond quickly to this incident and stop it from escalating because of a tip we received from the community. We have requested that the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office assist us in this matter and are requesting patience as we strictly adhere to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Internal Affairs Directive.”

Social media users littered the post with comments of condemnation.

“During your investigation, I hope you come to realize why neither of these officers should be police,” said one user.

“Police officers once again demonstrate their inherent biases and why they shouldn’t be officers in the first place. A white boy was treated with dignity while a Black boy was thrown to the ground,” wrote another user.

“It is clear as day, both kids should have been cuffed as they were equally responsible and a threat,” wrote another.

The Independent has contacted the Bridgewater Police Department for further comment.