A Jacksonville mother is speaking out after she says an overzealous cop handcuffed her 11-year-old son when he wouldn’t stop bouncing a basketball.
The incident unfolded Saturday after a youth basketball league game sponsored by JaxPAL, the city’s Police Athletic League, News4Jax reported. Parent Bunmi Borisade claims her son was dribbling a ball in the JaxPAL gym when an officer repeatedly asked him to stop.
Borisade said she was in another part of the gym when the incident happened and said she wouldn’t have known had someone not alerted her.
The cop handcuffed Fatayi Jomoh, 11, after he wouldn’t stop bouncing a basketball. (News4Jax / video screenshot)
“A little girl came up to me and said, ‘Hey, excuse me. Your son is being arrested for dribbling a basketball.’ I said, ‘You can’t be serious,’” she recalled.
Fatayi Jomoh, an honor roll student, was slapped with cuffs for allegedly being disobedient, his mother said.
“The officer who handcuffed my son looked at me and said, ‘He was being disrespectful,’ ” Borisade said. “I said, ‘Well, why didn’t you come and tell me? I’m his mom.’”
Borisade acknowledged Jomoh may have been “acting out” but said he didn’t deserve to be arrested and now fears police. She said she believes the cop acted forcefully because she wasn’t at her son’s side.
The local police league claims its mission is to foster “positive relationships between law enforcement officers and the youth of our community through educational, athletic and leadership programs,” but the incident has done the complete opposite for Jomoh.
“It’s ruined (my image of police) as well,” the boy’s mother said. “I’m not going to lie and put on a show for the news.”
According to the Sun-Sentinel, Borisade has since filed a complaint with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department. The incident is currently under review.
This is the second instance of police use force against a child in just a week. On Monday, an 11-year-old Cincinnati girl was Tased by police for stealing snacks from a grocery store.
Watch more in the video below.
