Ohio cops handcuffed a 14-year-old Black boy sitting on his front porch, claiming he “matched the description” of a man suspected of stealing cars.
But once they arrested the real suspect, he looked nothing like the child they had detained.
“Keep your f–king hands up,” a Canton police officer orders as he steps up on the front porch, according to video footage recorded by a Ring camera.
“I didn’t do nothing,” the boy responds. “I’m a kid.”
“I don’t give a sh-t,” the cop responds while handcuffing him.
Mistaken Identity
The real suspect, Kenneth Moore Jr. 18, was found hiding behind a house across the street from where they were detaining the boy.
Moore’s mugshot shows he is light-skinned with long, unkempt wavy hair, while the child they detained is darker with short, tightly coiled hair.
Moore is also 5 feet 11, while the boy is 5 feet 7, according to a woman on Facebook named Amber Lasha who said she witnessed the incident.
But as we’ve seen thousands of times in the past, police have a habit of zeroing in on the first Black person they see, accusing that person of matching the description when they look nothing alike.
Lasha posted both photos side-by-side with the following caption:
“Canton PD so you mean to tell me this is the mistake you made,” she wrote on a Facebook post with both photos side-by-side. “With one being 5’7 if that and the other being 5’11. Along with all the other obvious differences.”
Then you made that fake statement saying you’re detective were following the dogs tracks. When the dogs were across the street where you located the suspect. I saw the whole thing and it was wrong on so many levels. That young man didn’t deserve that experience.
Watch video below.
‘Time to Address Corruption’
The incident took place on Monday, Aug. 17, while Canton police said they “were in the area searching for multiple individuals involved in a series of recent thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles, including at least one juvenile,” according to a press release posted on the department’s Facebook page Tuesday.
The press release describes Moore as the “primary suspect … who had felony warrants, was suspected of being armed with a gun, and has a history of assault.”
However, the press release makes no mention of police making any other arrests or even searching for the alleged additional suspects.
“It is never our intention to subject innocent bystanders to custody or involve the general public unnecessarily in police operations,” the press release states.
“However, this short video clip is currently being shared and commented on without consideration of all the facts the officers had at the time.”
Despite the department’s attempts to justify the detainment, many commenters were not buying it, including Rodney Downing, a Black man running for Canton mayor in the 2027 election.
“I am deeply disgusted by how this situation was handled,” Downing wrote. “I have seen other videos involving the Canton Police Department where inappropriate and disrespectful language was used toward members of the public, including people who may not have done anything wrong.”
“It is time to address corruption, poor attitudes, and the way we communicate with the people of this city,” Downing continued.
However, Canton police resorted to the usual claim of “officer safety” to justify detaining a child who had done no wrong, saying “juveniles are increasingly involved in gun violence, and our officers frequently encounter kids who are armed.”
“We cannot dismiss an officer’s safety concerns simply because he or she is contacting a juvenile.”
‘This is What Profiling Looks Like’
The video was first posted by the boy’s mother on Facebook, Bridget Hill, on Monday evening, where she mentioned the boy’s father was murdered more than a decade ago, but nobody has been arrested yet.
“Go find his father’s killers!! We’ve been waiting 11 yrs for you to do that!!” Hill wrote.
“You want respect but you’re the Suspect!! I need answers not excuses & I’m coming to get em.”
Lasha, the witness, appears to have taken a photo of the arrest as well.
“This is what profiling looks like,” she wrote.
“A young Black man sitting on his own porch, minding his business, gets approached by police because he fits the description while the actual suspect they were looking for was running in the OPPOSITE direction.”
“Being Black should never make you automatically suspicious. Imagine being in your own yard and having to prove you’re not a criminal simply because of the color of your skin. This is exactly why people are angry. We deserve better than assumptions we deserve justice, dignity, and equal treatment.”
Like many police departments across the country, the Canton Police Department has a notorious history in dealing with Black people, including mocking a man whose genitals were ripped open by a police dog.
In 2024, two white Canton cops, Camden Burch and Beau Schoenegge, were indicted after killing a Black man after one of them placed a knee on his neck while he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.”
“You’re fine,” said one of the cops. “Shut the f–k up.”
Earlier this month, the cops accepted a plea deal to lesser charges where they were both required to resign. They are now awaiting sentencing.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to both Hill and Lasha for more details but have not yet heard back.
