Sometimes, it pays to have good Samaritans with a phone. Recently, a man was wrestled to the ground while his child was forcibly removed from his arms at the Alaska State Fair. A woman named Marie made sure that the video made its rounds when she sensed trouble. What could have happened for police to physically punch and tase a man onto the ground while he’s holding his own child? And why did they think this was okay?
A man identified as Jeffry Cook-Reed was holding his 20-month-old daughter at the Alaska State Fair. Suddenly, he was approached by police officers. In the video reshared by @anonymousak, you can see Jeffry being backed into a corner by multiple police officers. The entire time, he is holding his child. The reason? Jeffry was trying to leave the fair with his child after he was involved in a confrontation with some relatives. The relatives asked police to intervene, which is when the trouble began.
Jeffry attempts to get away from the officers, who are seen trying to wrestle the child from his arms. As the officers put their hands on Jeffry, you can hear the child start to scream in distress. Marie says from behind the camera, “Oh, my God.” Officers rip the child out of Jeffry’s arms. Then, they tackle him forcefully onto the ground, with one throwing punches at him. They repeatedly beat on him and tase him as Marie calls out, “What the f**k! No! His hands are free!” Jeffry begs the police to give him his child back as he calls out in pain.
In a recent follow-up interview, Jeffry said that his family was trying to take his daughter from him at the fair concert. He said this resulted in “a commotion” and “next thing I know, police are trying to come up and take my daughter away from me.” While all of this was happening, Jeffry said that his daughter was unintentionally struck by police at least once. Police allegedly received reports that Jeffry was highly intoxicated and attempted to attack multiple people, but no evidence of this has yet been shown.
The fact that police escalated things to this level on a man with a literal child in his hands speaks wonders. There is really no excuse for the way that things were handled. The fact that a man had to say “I’m scared for my life” while holding his young daughter is enough to break your heart.
