April Goggans of Black Lives Matter DC posted the video on Youtube Tuesday, writing that the girl was 17 years old and was traveling with her friends after school.
According to Goggans, the girl was walking to the metro gates with a bag of chips and lollipop then stopped by transit police because she had food. This was confirmed by the police who told bystanders the girl was under arrest for having a lollipop and a bag of chips.
Food items are prohibited on the train and we can clearly see, in the videos below, the length to which police will go to enforce this law.
According to the DCist, Metro's account confirms that an officer told the girl to put her bag of chips away while she was on the paid side of the fare gates. Police say that the girl responded with "a defiant 'No!" Officers said they told the girl that she'd have to leave the station if she did not comply, and she replied "No! I'm not going anywhere!" Police said they ordered her two more times to put the chips away, she refused, and an officer reached for her wrist to handcuff her as she resisted.
Of course, the girl should have simply listened and put the chips and lollipop away, but the subsequent treatment she received from police was entirely unwarranted.
As the video begins, the officers are yelling at the girl to sit down.
"All right, sit down," one officer says. "Sit down."
"No," replies the girl just as the cop kicks her legs out from under her and forces her to sit.
"Sit down!" he yells.
"Stop touching me!" she yells back.
According to the Post, the teen is not identified in a transit police arrest report, but officials say she is 18 years old. She was arrested for unlawful entry, and police took her to a D.C. police station. The report said she was not injured during the arrest.
In a second video, the teenager is seen being walked to the police cruiser to be brought to the station. When an officer begins shoving her hands into her pockets, the teen naturally becomes agitated and tells the officer to stop.
At this point, the teen is slammed into the cruiser while another officer grabs her by the arm and forces it above her head so the other officer can continue to search her.
"This is sexual harassment!" yells the teen as the cop gropes her groin area.
According to the Post, Metro spokesman Richard L. Jordan said police decided not to pursue charges. He declined to comment on whether officers handled the incident appropriately or whether excessive force was used.
This is what having a bag of chips and a lollipop in a police state looks like.
Comment: Not only is the United States the only nation in the world that sentences children to life in prison without parole, the criminal legal system often functions so as to make it more difficult for young people to escape the reach of a punishing and racist legal system. For instance, according to a recent report published by the Juvenile Law Center, there are close to a million children who appear in juvenile court each year subject to a legal system rife with racial disparities and injustices.
See also: From schools to debtors' prisons: The United States' war on youth