A federal lawsuit that was filed against Pittsfield, MI police says that authorities pulled a gun on 11-year-old Benjamin Whitfield, who was handcuffed after being pulled over with his father.
The young boy’s mother Markia Dixon, says that her son’s civil rights were violated on April 16, 2021. His father was pulled over near I-94 and Huron after being involved in a high-speed chase with Ann Arbor Police. Apparently there was a shooting in Briarwood Mall, and police were looking for the suspect’s car. Traffic was being directed one way, and the father decided to go in the opposite direction which prompted police to follow. That led to a high speed chase which hit speeds of more than 100 mph on the freeway and ended in an open mall parking lot in front of the Kroger in Ypsilanti Township.
Attorney Dionne Webster-Cox, of Webster Law says Ann Arbor police were already on scene and had the Whitfield sitting in the car while they detained his father. Shortly after, Pittsfield cop named Officer Smith arrived on the scene. He pulled on the child, demanding him out of the car.
“Get down, get down, do this, giving all these demands, put the phone down. The boy is so visibly shaken you can see his hands, he sits down, then he makes up stand back up and puts him in handcuffs,” said Attorney Webster-Cox. Pittsfield police say it was unavoidable that guns were drawn initially because they had to treat the boy as a shooting suspect.
What could have been avoided was Smith questioning the minor without his parent present. “Then you see him walk this little boy behind a van and start to question him,” Webster-Cox said. She says it’s a violation to question a minor without a parent present and Smith’s actions were outside of his training by the Pittsfield Township police department’s established practices, policies and customs in protecting citizen’s rights.
Here is the report and clip of the bodycam.
While the family says his father was wrong for running, they are afraid the police may have damaged the child forever. “This changed everything about him,” said Dixson. “He sits in the house all the time now, he really doesn’t want to go outside,”. “It’s been hard. Every time he sees the police he gets scared. I told him that not all of them are bad. I try to talk to him as much as I can about it. He’s to the point now where he doesn’t talk about it with me. He just shuts it down,” Dixson said.
A protest saying “Black Boys Matter” was held Tuesday in Pittsfield Township to make sure voters did not forget this incident since it happened in April. The dozen or so protesters gathered outside the Pittsfield Township Administration Building. They protested in honor of Benjamin Whitfield.
This case is currently in court and WebCelebDaily will keep you updated.
