Protesters gathered outside a police agency in Utah to demand that an officer who pulled his gun out on a 10-year-old boy last week be fired.
What We Know:
- Jerri Hrubes said a white police officer pulled a gun on her son DJ, who is black, while he played in his grandmother’s lawn.
- Black Lives Matter in Utah founder Lex Scott said her group organized the protest after learning that the officer would stay on the job, according to ABC News. “That child was targeted because of his skin color,” Scott said. The crowd of protestors carried Black Lives Matters signs Friday evening. One sign said, “Hey Cops! Don’t pull guns at our kids.”
- Woods Cross Police Chief Chad Soffe said last Monday that officials are not looking at firing the officer because he used good judgment and simply mistook the boy for a potential suspect during his pursuit of armed suspects. However, as previously reported, in initial statements the police said one suspect was Hispanic but the race of the second suspect was unknown.
- Heather White, an attorney working with the police department, said the Utah Department of Public Safety will investigate the officer and evaluate if he acted with unnecessary force or racial bias.
- Utah Against Police Brutality joined Scott’s group in protesting on Friday evening. “I’ve seen hundreds of investigations, and guess who’s never found guilty? The police,” said Jacob Jensen of Utah Against Police Brutality.
Jerri Hrubes does not believe the officer should be fired. She wants a third-party to conduct an investigation, according to Karra Porter, an attorney for the Hrubes family.
