LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The Lansing branch of the civil rights organization NAACP has issued a statement Saturday in response to a Lansing Police Department officer’s detainment of a 12-year-old boy Thursday after they said they mistook him for a suspect.
“The incident with Tashawn taking out the trash once again demonstrates how we experience what is called ‘mistaken identity’ or ‘he fit the description,'” said Lansing branch president Harold A. Pope.
Twelve-year-old Tashawn was taking out the trash Thursday when a police officer approached and detained him, his father said in an earlier statement.
Pope went on to say that it is not an adequate explanation that 12-year-old Tashawn was in an unfortunate location at the time police were looking for a similarly-dressed suspect, also Black.
“The response from the police and mayor with this being the ‘wrong place, wrong time’ may explain it away for them, but perception is reality, and incidents like this need to stop,” said Pope. “What’s further alarming is that the officer was prepared to use deadly force by drawing his weapon. We are pleased to see that the family has taken legal counsel.”
Mayor Andy Schor, LPD, and Tashawn’s family and legal counsel responded to the incident in earlier statements this week.
