18 Awful Times a Black Kid Was Racially Profiled

Kalyn Womack

September 2, 2023 at 11:30 AM·6 min read

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A judge just declared that 84-year-old Andrew Lester must stand trial for shooting and injuring now 17-year-old Ralph Yarl. Lester telling 911 he was in fear of a “tall Black man” trying to break into his home confirmed everything we knew already: Yarl was racially profiled.

Between nosey white folks calling the cops about a “suspicious” Black kid and the police manhandling them like grown adults, Black children often get treated as or mistaken for adult crime suspects.

Walgreens Customers

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A grandmother was told by her 11-year-old and 12-year-old grandsons that the Walgreens cashier threatened to call the cops on them if they didn’t leave. The worker explained that a lot of kids came into the store to steal and demanded they make their purchase or leave. The grandmother went off on the employee and demanded she apologize. As a result, the employee was placed on leave.

Micah Lee

Lee’s mother called police asking for help with her 18-year-old son who she said was experiencing a mental crisis. He was sitting in his car with a firearm in his lap, contemplating suicide when officers approached him, per AP. The white officer who approached the vehicle released a police dog on him and then shot at him seven times after spotting the gun.

Tashawn Bernard

The 12-year-old was taking out the trash when he was approached by Lancing police officers. In a viral video, the cops are shown handcuffing him and putting him in the back of a police car. His father demanded to know what the issue was and found the cops were looking for a carjacking suspect wearing a white shirt and neon shorts. In the end, they realized they had the wrong guy and apologized for stirring up trouble, per CBS.

Ralph Yarl

The 16-year-old knocked on the door of the Kansas City man, not realizing he has approached the wrong house looking for his siblings. Yarl was shot through the door by Andrew Lester, who described the teen as “large” and “scary,” per KMBC. Yarl survived shooting injuries to the arm and head.

Aderrien Murry

The 11-year-old was ordered by his mother to call 911 after she and her ex-boyfriend got into an argument in May. Once Indianola Officer Greg Capers responded to the home, he ordered everyone to put their hands up and shot Aderrien within seconds of seeing him turn the corner of the hallway, per CNN.

Meanwhile, the ex-boyfriend of concern hopped out the back window and fled the scene.

Trayvon Martin

The 17-year-old was gunned down by community watchman George Zimmerman in 2012. Zimmerman had followed him as he walked from the corner store and reported him to the Sanford Police as being suspicious, per CNN. A few minutes later, the two were in an altercation and Martin was shot in the chest.

Tamir Rice

The 12-year-old was shot and killed by officers from the Cleveland Police Department in 2014. While he played with a fake gun outside a recreation center, someone called the police on him. When the officers arrived, Timothy Loehmann immediately fired at him within seconds of getting out of his squad car, per NBC News.

Cyrus Carmack-Belton

The 14-year-old was accused of stealing four bottles of water from the Xpress Mart Shell station in Columbia, Sc in May. Though he put the bottles back, Cyrus was chased by store-owner Rick Chow who fatally shot the him in the back, per WIS 10.

Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley Jones

The 7-year-old was shot in the head while asleep on her grandmother’s living room couch, according to Mother Jones. In a botched raid, officers from Detroit’s Special Response Team burst into the apartment, threw a flash-bang grenade and fired inside the home within seconds. The cops claimed her grandmother reached for one of their guns but she was on the other side of the room.

Parris Moore

The 14-year-old walked out of class after getting in a disagreement with a teacher last year, per the Rockford Register. While walking down the hallway, school officer Bradley Lauer caught Moore and slammed him onto the ground head-first, resulting in a long-term traumatic brain injury.

Michael Coleman

Last April, the 13-year-old was waiting outside Sterne School in San Francisco for his tutor when an officer approached him. The cop said he fit the description of a car burglar and refused to let him go until the boy’s tutor arrived to convince the officer Coleman was not a crime suspect, per NBC Bay Area.

Honestie Hodges

Hodges was 11 years old when she was handcuffed at gun-point along with her mother by Grand Rapids police officers. The cops were actually looking for a white woman suspected in a stabbing, per The Guardian. Nonetheless, her detainment sparked outrage and led to a policy named after her on how police should interact with children. She died at 14 years old from COVID-19 in 2020.

Saratoga, Ny. Teen

The 14-year-old autistic teen was tackled by a Saratoga County sheriff’s deputy while he waited for his siblings inside a Target. Suddenly, he was thrown onto the ground by a plainclothes officer who attempted to arrest him. The boy’s mother was told her son and daughter were wanted in a larceny, per Times Union.

Bobbi Wilson

The 9-year-old was reported to 911 by a neighbor as she walked up and down the sidewalk spraying the trees with a homemade solution to kill off lantern flies. She was described as a suspicious adult to the police. Wilson wasn’t arrested but was left frightened by the interaction.

London Strip Search

A 15-year-old student in London was escorted from class to the principal’s office to be searched for drugs in 2020. The officers suspected the girl was carrying marijuana following a weed-smell complaint from a teacher, per The Guardian. The officers strip-searched her as a prisoner would and they didn’t contact the girl’s mother. The girl was also menstruating and was not allowed to change her sanitary napkin.

Syracuse Police vs. A Bag of Chips

An 8-year-old was seen on video being confronted by police who accused him of stealing a bag of Doritos last year. The officers pulled the boy off his bike by his hoodie, dumped the chips on him and forced him inside a patrol car, per Syracuse.com.

Rochester Police Pepper-Spray Girl

In 2021, Rochester police officers responded to the mental crises of a 9-year-old girl. Footage shows them throwing her in the back of a patrol car and pepper-sprayed her while she cried, per The New York Times. One officer even said to her, “You’re acting like a child.”

Flower-Picking 6-Year-Old

A 6-year-old boy was arrested for picking a tulip from the yard in front of his bus stop in 2021, per Winston-Salem Journal. He was charged and put on trial in juvenile court for injury to real property. During his court proceedings, he was given crayons and a coloring book to keep himself alert.

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