A black teen arrested last week after a fight with a white teen at a New Jersey mall was told by security that his family was financially responsible for a table that was broken while police physically detained the 13-year-old .
The incident took place on Feb. 12 at Bridgewater Commons Mall, about an hour’s drive from New York City, when the two children got into an argument in a seating area.
Video of the fight shows both children falling to the ground when two police officers arrive. One pulls the white boy away from Z’Kye, the black teenager, while the other officer tackles Z’Kye.
The officers then roughly handcuff Z’Kye and leave the white boy unattended, sitting on a nearby bench. The full names of the two children are not listed because they are minors.
According to NJ.com, neither boy has been charged with crimes.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who was hired by Z’Kye’s family last week, released a statement Monday providing an update on the case.
“It was just discovered that Z’Kye’s mother, the black teen involved, was told by the mall’s security chief when she went to pick him up that she would be responsible for the cost of a broken table the police had. knocked on the door. while using explicit bias and excessive force, knocking her 13-year-old son to the ground, face forward and a knee tucked into his back,” Crump said in a statement.
“This offensive and unacceptable demand for payment continues to exemplify the unequal treatment of white and black families in America. The only people who should be asked to pay for the damaged table are those who engaged in biased policing and caused it to be damaged – Bridgewater Police.
Crump previously represented the families of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.
Over the weekend, the other teen involved, Joseph, told NJ.com that he isn’t even white and that the police were “racist” for Z’Kye’s arrest.
“I don’t understand why they arrested him and not me,” the 15-year-old teenager, who said he is Colombian and Pakistani, told NJ.com. “I’m saying it was just an old racist. I don’t approve of that at all. As I said, I even offered to be arrested.”
According to the report, rumors circulated online about a fight between other teens and the police stationed at the mall after learning of the planned brawl.
“I knew that was really bad,” Joseph told NJ.com. “I even offered to be handcuffed, I offered to be held after Kye was held, and they declined my offer. I even asked them why they were holding Kye and not me, and they said because Kye resisted.”
Joseph said he had been cyberbullied since the fight and regrets it happened.
Governor Phil Murphy said he was “deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment.”
The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the incident and the conduct of the officers, who have not been identified.
