Police “assaulted” an 11-year-old black boy during Kids Day at the California State Fair, according to his family and Black Lives Matter Sacramento.
Elijah Hunter’s family, their attorney, Black Lives Matter Sacramento and the Greater Sacramento NAACP gathered Monday for a press conference to demand policy changes at Cal Expo, which hosts the fair.
Black Lives Matter Sacramento said in a statement that Elijah was “brutally attacked” and had “his rights violated by Cal Expo police” while at the fair with family and friends.
Cal Expo did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. In a statement to NBC affiliate KCRA in Sacramento, Cal Expo spokeswoman Darla Givens said Elijah suffered a minor cut. She said the police stopped him because he was climbing a fence and trying to steal from vendors.
A spokeswoman for Black Lives Matter Sacramento told NBC News that Elijah was “playing horses while they were standing in line, all pretending to cut in front of each other.”
“Elijah was tackled by the police and his friends were not. Elijah is black and his friends are white,” the spokeswoman said.
Elijah was taken into an interrogation room while his mother begged to be allowed into the room, the spokeswoman said. She was not allowed in and Elijah signed a trespass document saying he is banned from the fair.
“There is no amount of horseplay that validates adult police officers to tackle and beat a child,” the spokeswoman said.
Black Lives Matter Sacramento is calling for the officers to be fired and charged with child abuse. The officers for the fair’s police detail are on-duty officers from other departments. It is not clear which departments the officers involved are employed by.
Cynthia Martin, Elijah’s mother, said at the news conference that his shirt was covered in blood after police attacked him, KCRA reported.
“They knew they hurt him because they administered first aid before we even got to Kaiser hospital where he received further treatment,” Martin said.
An attorney for the family has started the process of filing a lawsuit, Black Lives Matter Sacramento said.
“The violence inflicted on 11-year-old Elijah is horrific and has affected him physically and emotionally,” a statement said. “There is no reason why a mostly vacant police department should treat a child like a criminal.”
Elisha Fieldstadt is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.