‘I could not help my child.’ Durham protest decries police drawing guns on children.

More than 100 people came together Friday night to speak out after Durham police officers recently drew their guns on a group of Black children at an apartment complex.

Three children — ages 9, 11 and 15 — were playing tag at Rochelle Manor Apartments when five officers pointed guns at them and told them to freeze, two of the children have told media outlets about the Aug. 21 incident. Officers handcuffed the 15-year-old boy, they said.

“I don’t want to have to be scared when I go outside,” Jaylin Harris, the 15-year-old, told those gathered outside Durham City Hall on Friday. “I want to be free.”

Makeba Hoffler, the mother of 9-year-old Zakarrayya Cornelius, said she felt powerless afterward.

”I could not help my child,” she said. “This has to stop.”

Zakarrayya also spoke, thanking people for showing up.

“I can’t even get a chance to play outside because I think the same thing is going to happen again,” he said.

His mother hugged him when he finished talking.

In a statement Sunday, Police Chief C.J. Davis expressed remorse and said officers had approached the children with their guns drawn because they were responding to a report of a man with a gun who had been involved in an earlier shooting.

Group wants video, 911 call released

The protesters are asking the Durham Police Department to release body camera video and the 911 phone call that led to the incident, as well as to make a commitment to reforming community policing.

“They’re all of our kids,” said Sarah Hinton, one of the organizers. “We’re tired; I’m tired of protests. We should all be angry and exhausted.”

Hinton has a 10-year-old daughter who is afraid of the police, “and she shouldn’t be,” Hinton said. “I want them to be someone I can call if I need them.”

“They’re the last people I want to call,” she said.

School board member Alexandra Valladares said she lived in McDougald Terrace, another Durham public-housing neighborhood.

“There’s relationship. There’s family,” she said about the Rochelle Manor community. ”People can’t just barge in.”

“Do not go into our neighborhoods disrespecting our neighborhoods,” she said at the protest. “We’re going to hold space for these children.”

Then turning to the families, Valladares said: “As a human being to another human being, I am sorry. You are so courageous to be here.”

City wants police video released

The city is seeking the release of the body camera footage, which has to be approved by a judge.

“The City Attorney’s Office attempted to file a petition for the release of the subject videos yesterday, but the Clerk of Court could not process the filing or the payment of court fees yesterday due to an internet outage at the courthouse,” City Attorney Kim Rehberg wrote in an email to The News & Observer on Wednesday.

Attorney Daniel Meier, who is representing the officers, said a judge will review the request Tuesday. He said he hopes those concerned about the incident will look at the full picture.

The officers were responding to a 911 call reporting a person with a gun, he said. “You’re going to be prepared,” he said.

The real key, he said, is how the officers responded to the situation once they saw it was not the person they were looking for.

“I don’t know what else they could have done differently,” Meier said. “You can’t just assume just because someone is young, they aren’t dangerous in Durham.”

“A lot of this depends on what the video shows,” he said.

Durham police chief explains response

In her statement posted on Facebook Sunday, Davis said “guns were not pointed at the heads of any individual on the scene.”

“Upon their arrival, Durham police officers believed an individual behind the building was the suspect,” she wrote. “It was not until the young man was detained that officers realized he was not the suspect, but rather, a 15-year-old resident of Rochelle Manor.”

“Given the nature of the call, officers did have weapons initially drawn; however, they were holstered upon realizing that the detained individual was not the suspect,” she wrote.

Staff writer Charlie Innis contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 9:27 PM with the headline "‘I could not help my child.’ Durham protest decries police drawing guns on children.."