“I’M GONNA SHOOT YOU IN YOUR F*****G FACE” - shouted a Phoenix police officer after demanding that an African-American man and his family step out of their car because their toddler had walked out of a shop holding a toy, unbeknownst, it would seem, to the parents.
Footage emerged of the incident in a car park in Arizona after pedestrians nearby recorded the alteration on their phones.
The footage, from May 29, sparked outrage as it appears to show police officers acting irrationally and aggressively toward an African American couple and their two young children who pose them no threat.
A Police officer pointing their gun at Iesha Harper and her two young childrenDravon Ames, Iesha Harper and their two children, 1-year-old London Drake and 4-year-old Island Drake, were allegedly driving to a babysitter after shopping at a local store when a police car appeared and demanded they pull over.
The officers were responding to a shoplifting report, and it appeared that Dravon and Iesha’s daughter had walked out of the store carrying a doll. The parents only realised she had taken the doll once they were in the car.
Ames claimed in an official complaint that the officers approached his car without warning lights or sirens, before jumping out and immediately threatening his family with their guns.
Ames is seen here being restrainedFootage captured by a passer-by shows the altercation as officers yelled frantically at the family and threatened to shoot them.
Harper was holding her one-year-old child during the fracas and also told the officers that she was pregnant.
One officer can be heard shouting :”You’re going to get f*****g shot” while he waves his gun in the faces of the family.
After being told to put her hands up, Harper tells the officers that she can’t as “I have a baby in my hands”.
When pushed to raise her hands again, she asks “do you want me to put my baby on the hot floor?”
A police officer points a finger at Harper during the altercationMeanwhile, Ames is seen being held against a squad car while an officer berates him for ‘not complying’.
“When I tell you to do something you f*****g do it,” the policeman yelled.
“I am, I’m sorry,” said Ames in reply.
The shocking footage has prompted the family to file a $10 million lawsuit against the police department this week.
Watch the footage below.
"My hands are up! My hands are up!" 22yo Dravon Ames says as a Phoenix police officer yells to "get your fucking hands up." The same officer later says "You're gonna fucking get shot!"
Ames says the officers stopped him after his child walked out of a Dollar Store with a doll. pic.twitter.com/Nlkd7IXsyc— Meg O'Connor (@megoconnor13) June 12, 2019
