West Yorkshire Police officers arrested a 16-year-old girl for saying a female officer resembles her lesbian grandmother.
Content warning: This story includes topics that could make some readers feel uncomfortable and/or upset.
The girl’s mother uploaded footage to TikTok, which has since been removed.
The caption stated: “This is what police do when dealing with autistic children.
“My daughter told me the police officer looked like her nana, who is a lesbian. The officer took it the wrong way and said it was a homophobic comment (it wasn’t). The officer then entered my home.”
She added: “My daughter was having panic attacks from being touched by them and they still continued to manhandle her.”
The police arrested the teenager on suspicion of a homophobic public order offence.
READ MORE: West Midlands Police refuses to apologise for history of LGBTQ+ “witch hunts”
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police claimed that the video “only provides a very limited snapshot of the circumstances of this incident”.
“West Yorkshire Police takes its responsibilities around the welfare of young people taken into custody and around neurodiversity very seriously,” the force’s Assistant Chief Constable Oz Khan told the BBC.
“We also maintain that our officers and staff should not have to face abuse while working to keep our communities safe.”
He stated that they “are fully reviewing the circumstances of this incident and ask that people avoid reaching any conclusions about it solely on the basis of the social media video.”
The force added that the girl was interviewed with an ‘appropriate adult’ and release on bail pending further inquiries.
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