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Another disturbing incident in Newark shows how police racially profile and jump to conclusions when it comes to incidents involving young Black men.

A community is reeling after a 10-year-old boy was chased down by police who believed he was the 20-year-old suspect from a nearby armed robbery, WABC reports.

Legend Preston, a fifth grader, was traumatized after Newark police brandished loaded guns while chasing him down a nearby alley.

“Some police started coming this way with guns pointed at me, and then I ran into the backyard,” Legend told WABC.

Prior to the chase, Preston was playing basketball at a nearby court. His ball rolled out into the street.
“I ran because they thought that I rolled the ball into the street on purpose, and they were just holding shotguns at me trying to shoot me,” he said.

His mother, Patisha Solomon, was in the house at the time of the incident and afterwards posted her son’s emotional reaction in a video on Facebook.

“These policemen who had guns drawn on my child are still on these streets,” Solomon said in her Facebook post.

Solomon said when she told police her son was just a minor, they yelled back, “He fits the description!” Neighbors and friends circled around the young boy in order to protect him from the police.

According to the New York Daily News, a spokesperson for the Newark Police Department said the officers did have guns drawn, but never pointed their weapons at Preston.

Police announced they eventually caught the suspect, 20-year-old Casey Joseph Robinson, who was charged with armed robbery.

SOURCE: WABCNew York Daily News | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Twitter

Newark Cops Mistake Unarmed 10-Year-Old Black Boy For Armed Robber  was originally published on newsone.com