A fight broke out between a Black eighth-grader and an older white teen after the white teen was allegedly bullying a seventh grade student at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey.

However, when the police arrived at the scene, as seen in a viral video, the police were quick to handcuff and subdue the Black student while the white teen sat peacefully on a nearby sofa. The video caused outrage in the community, and internal affairs launched an investigation, according to ABC 7.


The two white officers are accused of showing implicit bias in their handling of the situation.

After the officers broke up the fight, the female officer instructed the white teen to sit on the couch while the Black teen, identified as Kye, was held down on the ground and handcuffed, ABC 7 reports. The female officer is then accused of coming to her partner's assistance and kneeling on the young Black child's back.

"It's 'cause he's Black. Racially motivated," a female voice can be heard saying in the video, according to ABC 7.

The white teen then stands up and looks on as the officers handcuff the Black teen.

"They basically tackled me to the ground, and then the male officer put his knee in my back, and then he started putting me in cuffs," Kye said to ABC 7. "Then the female officer came over and put her knee on my upper back too, and started helping him put cuffs on me while he was just sitting down on the couch watching the whole thing."

Kye's mother, Eboné, is grateful her son was not severely harmed in the incident but is demanding that the police department fire the two officers.

"It doesn't take two cops to hold a 14-year-old boy down who is not resisting, while the other boy is just going free and still going off on my son. It just doesn't make sense," Eboné said in an interview with NBC.

Kye explained that the fight was the result of the high schooler picking on his friend.

"My friend was arguing with the older kid, and so I kind of just jumped into a fight, and since he's older, he was on top of me, and he's bigger," Kye said. "I was just confused and mad about it."

Bridgewater Township Mayor Matthew Moench issued a letter on Tuesday and said an investigation is currently underway.


"The Township Administration is aware of a video circulating on social media involving some young people and officers of the Bridgewater Police Department," Moench wrote in his letter. "In order to absolutely ensure that these policies and regulations were upheld in this instance, Chief Payne has requested that the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office conduct an independent review of the incident, with the unqualified support of the BPD."

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy offered a harsh criticism about the conduct of both police officers.

The Bridgewater Township Police Department posted on Facebook addressing the altercation between the two boys and the officers.

"We recognize that this video has made members of our community upset and are calling for an internal affairs investigation," the police department's statement read, according to a post on Facebook.

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