Norristown Community Remains Outraged After 14-Year-Old Girl Who Was Put In Chokehold By Police Officer Is Charged
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) – The 14-year-old girl who was seen being placed in a chokehold by a police officer in a viral video at a church carnival last month is facing criminal charges, including simple assault and failure to disperse. Many in the Norristown community would like the charges dropped.
The images of the takedown, a full blown scuffle with Norristown police officers remain fresh.
The mid-May melee at the Saint Francis of Assisi carnival continues to draw criticism.
Law enforcement tactics are said to be under review.
"You added more charges on the child, we want the charges dropped," a protester said Saturday.
At a demonstration Saturday outside of the police department, the mother of a teen girl seen on a video in a chokehold said her daughter is in even more trouble now.
"They actually added a charge," Alisha Bates said. "Initially, it was failure to disperse, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct. At her hearing Friday that past, they added simple assault."
It's claimed that the teens involved were not part of the initial report for police assistance.
They were there for another group of rowdy teenagers.
"She is 1,000% innocent, didn't do one thing wrong," Bates said. "Was never part of anything that happened. For her to be charged and then adding charges and getting offers of, 'We'll give you two years probation.' Her exact words were, 'so you want me to admit to something that I did not do?'"
On the other side of it, Norristown Police Chief Mark Talbot says he gets the video resulted in people asking questions about the amount of force used by his officers.
Talbot says the investigation of the incident has logged dozens of hours and that there are numerous clips of video that show the altercation.
"There are some great police officers on that video who come to work everyday, to keep these people safe," Talbot said. "That's getting lost here. They were dealing with something extremely challenging."
