Key West Police Tried to Handcuff a 64-Pound 8-Year-Old; a Federal Judge Later Dismissed the Family’s Lawsuit

KEY WEST, FLORIDA — Officers at Gerald Adams Elementary tried to put steel on an 8-year-old who weighed 64 pounds and stood about 3-and-a-half feet. His wrists were too small. The officer gave up. The boy had allegedly punched a teacher in the chest in the cafeteria over how he was sitting. The teacher had no obvious injury. Police still booked him at the Monroe County Detention Center on felony battery — fingerprints, DNA swab, mugshot, a cell. His mother, Bianca Di Gennaro, fought nearly a year before the Monroe County State Attorney declined to prosecute in October 2019.

Ben Crump asked the only question that mattered: « Why would you do that to a child? He’s biracial, and you just say, ‘Why? Why were they picking on this kid?' » Key West Police Chief Sean T. Brandenburg said standard operating procedures were followed. Julián Castro called it a stunt to « scare him straight. »

The clip sat next to the 2019 Orlando booking of 6-year-old Kaia Rolle. Di Gennaro’s federal civil-rights suit named the city, the Monroe County School District, officers, a teacher, and two principals. In March 2021 U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore dismissed the claims against the three school employees. In June 2021 he sided with the City of Key West and the three officers, finding the brief cuff attempt caused no pain and that the child was walked to the patrol car unrestrained. The courthouse closed. The question did not: whether booking a 64-pound child in a mental-health crisis is a school’s job, or a cop’s.

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