Maplewood Police Handcuff & Arrest 4 Children of Color. No Crime Committed.

April 14, 2022 - Written by S.J.

A video is circulating online depicting Maplewood police officers handcuffing four juveniles, ages 10, 12, 12, and 16, and placing them in the back of squad cars. 

On Monday evening, officers approached four children–three of whom were Black and one Latinx–outside of a McDonalds near the 1700 block of Cope Avenue in Maplewood. The officers were responding to a call reporting gunshots fired in the area. Two of the minors fled when police arrived, but returned voluntarily after just a few minutes. 

All of the children were then handcuffed and placed inside of police cars. Officers eventually reviewed surveillance footage and realized the minors were not suspects in the incident. The four visibly upset children, who were detained for nearly an hour, were released to their worried parents.

“Our officers acted very professionally during this incident and exactly how we’d expect them to act,” Maplewood Police Lieutenant Joe Steiner asserted during a press conference following the incident. “We take the safety of our community seriously…”

Toshira Garraway, mother of the detained 16 year old and one of the first parents on the scene, is also the founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence. She spoke to the public outside of the Maplewood City Hall and Police Department. "I got the scariest call any mother can receive–my baby begging for my help," Garraway cried. 

"This type of conduct to children that young is what precipitates intergenerational distrust of law enforcement," stated attorney Jeffrey Storms, who was with Garraway when she spoke to the media. "The two children ultimately came back, sat there, made themselves available for law enforcement — they had done nothing wrong. Despite the fact they did nothing wrong they were still handcuffed and put in squad cars."

"It's hard to envision that this would have happened to white children in other communities in Minnesota," continued Storms. According to last year’s U.S. Census, 9.9% of Maplewood’s population identifies as Black and 8.8% identifies as Hispanic/Latino, whereas nearly 70% identifies as White. 

Storms wasn’t the only attorney to weigh in on Monday’s incident. Ben Crump, a Civil Rights attorney who represented the families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright, both of whom were killed during encounters with police officers in Minnesota, took to his Twitter to share the video, commenting, “...these innocent kids sat in the back of a police car!”

The video has sparked outrage online, with community members advocating for policy changes regarding the way police officers handle situations involving minors. 

"They don't understand the damage they cause. I think this is a learning experience. This isn't how you treat people's children,” Garraway insisted.