Body camera footage has revealed that Texas police wrongly held a Black family at gunpoint after a typo led them to incorrectly believe their car was stolen.
The incident occurred on July 23 in Frisco, Texas, with the body camera footage released on Saturday. In the video, several members of the Frisco Police Department terrorize the family, comprised of husband, wife, son, and nephew.
Black Family Pulled Over at Gunpoint
Police demanded that the family exit their car, with one pointing their gun at one of the children — who have been identified as 12 and 13 years old — and handcuffing him.
At one point, the mother asked: “Is he in cuffs? This is very traumatizing. Why is my baby in cuffs? What are y’all doing?"
Partway through the video, the officer who ran the family's license plates realized her error — that she searched for an "AR" Arkansas plate instead of an "AZ" Arizona plate.
Another officer pointed out the mistake, saying: “She ran it out of the wrong state."
The officer who made the typo responded: "AR, AR is Arkansas, correct?"
"It's Arizona though. It's not Arizona," another officer confirmed.
"Oh, I see what you're saying," the officer said. "That's on me."
The officers all quickly lowered their guns, approaching the car that still seated the husband and nephew, who was crying in the backseat. The husband told them: "Listen bro, we just here for a basketball tournament. Don't do this to my son, bro."
The officers explained the error, with the officer who made the typo telling the mother, who was driving the car: "This is all my fault. I apologize for this. I know it was very traumatic for you and your nephew and your son. And like I said, it’s on me. There are consequences that come with that."
Grant Cottingham, public information officer for the Frisco Police Department, said in a statement that “the incident is still under review, and any discipline related to it has yet to be determined.”
Frisco Police Chief David Shilson also recognized the "mistake" in a statement, saying the department will "learn" from it. But as the husband noted in the video, “It could’ve went all wrong for us though.”
“If I would’ve went to reach for my phone, we could’ve all got killed,” he said, in tears.
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