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BLOOMINGTON Representatives of Black Lives Matter say a photo that shows a 10-year-old boy in handcuffs surrounded by Bloomington police is an example of children of color being disproportionately targeted by police.

The youth was in juvenile court Wednesday to face charges resulting from an incident last June in which he allegedly spray painted graffiti at a neighborhood park. Because he had not written a letter of apology and served 10 community service hours as ordered, he returned to court where he was granted an extension until April 25.

On March 12, police were called for a report of a youth throwing rocks in a church parking lot. When officers arrived, the same 10-year-old reportedly ran to his home. Once there, officers handcuffed him. He does not face any charges in that incident.

A picture of the boy in handcuffs appeared on social media sites last week.

The image of the large officers standing over the small child offered the community a clear view of the Bloomington Police Departments heavy-handed criminalization of children of color, read a statement from the group.

While Bloomington police Assistant Chief Ken Bays said he could not address the specific incident because it involved a juvenile, he said that in general, there are various reasons why multiple officers would be called to a scene.

A call may look benign at first, and not require much, but other individuals could arrive at a scene and inject themselves into it and escalate it, he said. At some point, an officer has to make an assessment of what the motives of those individuals are and how that is impeding their responsibilities.

Bays said the safety of officers and the public is most important.

We have to make sure we have control of a scene and that is done by calling in additional officers, he said. So those officers may be on the scene and not have had anything to do with the original call.

Anyone can be put in handcuffs, including juveniles, Bays added.

If the individual is not listening to officers, that could be a reason, but again, it is more about adding some control to an unknown situation, he said.

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BPD, Black Lives Matter differ on photo - Bloomington Pantagraph

Photo Courtesy: YiouTube/Melina Abdullah

Todays police officers evolved from slave catchers, according to a Black Lives Matter organizer who spoke at a California State University, Fullerton, event last week.

Melina Abdullah also a professor and chair of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles described Black Lives Matter as police abolitionists because ofthe history of American law enforcement, the Daily Titan reported.

Police that we now have were the slave catchers, Abdullah continued, the paper reported. So that is where it comes from. You literally have a target on your back. That is what policing was founded on, and that is what it evolved out of. So the former slave catchers or paddy rollers, they were called slave patrols.

When Abdullah asked the audience what slave patrols are called today, the Daily Titan said the response was patrolmen.

LA Weekly characterized Abdullah as a key figure in the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter and noted she called the citys police department the most murderous police force in the country.

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Black Lives Matter: Police Officers 'Evolved' From 'Slave Catchers' - LawOfficer.com

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Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders decision to accede to demands from the local chapter of Black Lives Matter is supported by only 21 percent of the citys residents, according to a new Forum Poll released late last week.

In February, Saunders caved to pressure from Black Lives Matter (BLM) and agreed that Toronto Police would not participate in the 2017 Gay Pride Parade. At last years event, the police marched with a parade float, but the festivities came to an abrupt halt when BLM participants decided the presence of police made them feel intimidated.

Forum Research polled 966 Toronto voters and almost half (48 percent) disapprove ofthe Toronto Police chiefs decision not to participate in this years parade. Only 21 percent approve of the policy, 27 percent said they have not formed an opinion and four percent responded that they dont know.

That the Toronto police wont have a float in this years pride parade is unpopular; in fact, almost fifty-percent of everyone over the age of 34 disapproves. Thats a really broad spectrum of Toronto residents who would prefer the police have a presence in this years parade, said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research.

The poll was conducted on March 8-10, 2017,with results being considered accurate plus or minus three percent, 19 times out of 20.

Last years parade when more than its usual share of news when BLM demonstrators stopped the event to protest the police presence. Things only got started again after the executive director of Pride Toronto,Matthieu Chantelois, promised the black activists that he would agree to a list of demands that included a ban on any future participation by the police.

Chanteloisye said later that he only agreed to sign a promissory note as a means of halting the protest and resuming the parade.

Pride Toronto met again in January at its annual meeting and then voted in favor of the BLM edict, but it was unclear whether that edict included marching police officers or just floats.

In his explanation, Saunders referred to divisions within the LGBTQ organizers of the multi-million dollar event.

We understand the LGBTQ communities are divided, he said in a statement. To enable those differences to be addressed, I have decided the Toronto Police Service will not participate, this year, in the Pride parade.

The police acquiescing to their demands did not satisfy BLM.

They are trying to flip the narrative and make it seem as if they are choosing to pull out of Pride when in fact they were uninvited, said spokesperson Syrus Marcus Ware.

Ware said the police chief failed to mention such issues as anti-blackness and policing and carding a standard practice of patrolling dangerous sections of town that BLM insists is aimed a non-whites.

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Toronto Police Caving To Black Lives Matter Lacks Support: Poll - Daily Caller

New York Times

Where Fiction and Reality Collide: Books and Black Lives Matter New York Times When Black Lives Matter started, it was polarizing, Mr. Reynolds said. Does any publishing company want to bring forth static around something so fresh? In fact, All American Boys, which came out in 2015, became a commercial hit, selling more ... More Teen Novels Wrestle With Black Lives Matter, Police BrutalityDaily Caller Talking With Angie Thomas, Author of the Best-selling YA Novel Inspired by Black Lives MatterNew York Magazine all 4 news articles »

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Where Fiction and Reality Collide: Books and Black Lives Matter - New York Times

A panel being held Sunday afternoon in Rochester had a goal of trying clear up any misunderstandings about the Black Lives Matter movement.

Speakers included the Pastor of Salem United Church of Christ Reverend Julius Jackson, Jr, Monroe County legislator and mayoral candidate James Sheppard and the President of the Interfaith IMPACT for New York State Richard Gilbert.

The main focus of the discussion, Gilbert said, was to try and answer questions about the Black Lives Matter movement and what its goals are; as well as how it relates to issues in the prison system today.

"Its how the two relate. Because our prison system is very much based on racism. We hope to demonstrate that and indicate ways that people can work against the racism."

Panelists also discussed the school to prison pipeline, minimizing the use of solitary confinement, and raising the age of criminal liability in New York State from 16 to 18 years old.

Gilbert said organizers wanted to offer a number of different perspectives on the movement and what it means for racism in Rochester and in New York State.

"We are so divided in our country right now that we need every possible means to bring us back together again and this is one way to do it."

He hoped the event would reach people who were curious, and ready to initiate change in our community.

"We've for too long been apathetic about the racism that surrounds us every day. So we'd like people to feel that they are empowered to take action to begin to end it."

Interfaith IMPACT of New York State is an organization that works on state legislation through progressive religious advocacy.

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Panel discussion tries to answer questions about Black Lives Matter ... - WXXI News