Body camera videos show 6-year-old sobbing and pleading with officers during arrest

CNN — The police body camera videos are disturbing. They show two Orlando police officers arresting 6-year-old Kaia Rolle as she pleads with officers for a “second chance.” “Help me,” Kaia says between sobs as her hands are restrained with a zip tie. While the police report says the assistant principal wanted to press charges and would testify in court, the statement the assistant principal gave to police at the time and obtained by CNN does not show an initial by the box: “I will testify in court and prosecute criminally.” In a statement issued by Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy on September 24, 2019, Kaia’s school wrote, “Never did anyone within our organization request or direct the School Resource Officer to arrest this student.” CNN reached out to the school Tuesday asking for comment regarding the release of the videos and has not heard back. The second officer in the videos was “exonerated” after an “investigation revealed that he notified his supervisor multiple times about concerns with the arrest but was never given instruction not to proceed with the prisoner transport.” And in a statement to CNN at the time Orlando Police said, “the arrest of any person under the age of 12 requires the approval of the Watch Commander, which was not obtained in this case.” The statement went on to say, “The 6-year-old was released from custody and returned to the school prior to being processed at the Juvenile Assessment Center.” CNN tried to obtain the records independently from the Orlando Police Department and was sent a statement saying the “records remain confidential and exempt from disclosure as a public record.” “These statutes were written with the intent to protect juvenile subjects from unwanted disclosure of their information,” the statement attributed to the Orlando Police Legal Advisor Alex Karden said. State Attorney Aramis Ayala did not pursue the misdemeanor battery charges against the child and during a press conference in September said, “Very young children ought to be protected, nurtured and disciplined in a manner that does not rely on the criminal justice system.” Family wants to change Florida law Kaia Rolle’s family debated for almost a month about whether to release the body camera videos, according to Smith & Eulo Law Firm, the attorneys representing Rolle.