A newly-released viral video that shows New York City Police Department officers attempting to remove Jazmine Headley’s 1-year-old son from her grasp has sparked outrage online. The incident happened at the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program office in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, on Friday, December 7.
According to reports from Nyashia Ferguson — the woman who posted the video on Facebook — Headley, 23, was seated on the floor of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program office in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn because there were no available chairs. The incident happened on Friday, December 7.
After reportedly getting into a verbal dispute with a security guard, the police were called. Following their arrival, the shocking video shows NYPD officers and HRA security officers attempted to take Headley’s 1-year-old son away from her so she could be arrested.
Headley was eventually arrested and charged before being held without bail at Rikers Island and barred from seeing her 1-year-old son Damone. She has been charged with resisting arrest, acting in a manner injurious to a child, obstructing governmental administration and trespassing. Additionally, the New York City Police Department said that Headley refused medical treatment for herself and her son.
Following the incident, 1-year-old Damon was placed in the care of a relative.
The Police Department called Friday’s incident “troubling” in a statement on Sunday, and said officers had responded to a 911 call for harassment. When the officers arrived, security guards told them that Ms. Headley had refused to leave.
The police officers told Ms. Headley to leave “numerous times,” the police said, and after she refused, the security guards “brought the woman to the floor.” Police officers then tried to arrest her; despite her resistance, she was taken into custody, the police said.
Deputy Commissioner Phillip Walzak, a police spokesman, said the officers involved are all assigned to the 84th Precinct and remained on full-duty status. He declined to give their names or say whether they followed department protocols, citing its investigation.
The department is investigating the incident with the city Human Resources Administration, which administers public benefits. A spokeswoman for Allied Universal, the parent company of the security firm visible on security guards’ patches, FJC Security, did not respond to requests for comment.
While Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has called for the charges against Headley to be dropped, the Mayor’s Office has yet to make a statement on the video, while the New York City Police Department called the incident “troubling.”
