A Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been suspended for eight hours after he called a Black man “boy” and grabbed his throat during an encounter outside a hotel.
The incident happened in Dania Beach, Florida, in July 2017. Allen Floyd was holding his infant son during the exchange captured on Deputy James Cady’s body camera.
Officers responded to a hotel following complaints that the mother of Floyd’s child was drunk and had broken a television as hotel staff attempted to evict her.
When Cady approached, Floyd was sitting outside the hotel with his then 9-month-old son on his lap.
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“I’m going to take her to jail cause she’s got a warrant. And I’m going to call child services on this kid,” Cady said.
He then demanded that Floyd show him his ID.
“You don’t have to see my ID,” Floyd said.
“OK, fine. I’m going to take you to jail ’cause you got a warrant, OK? And I’m going to put Child Services on this kid,” said Cady, adding, “Quit f***ing with me, boy.”
“This is my baby, man. Stop calling me ‘boy,’” Floyd said. “We can communicate like grown men.”
Floyd began walking away, saying, “Don’t call me boy, boy.”
Cady grabbed Floyd’s arm then he and another deputy detained him, although Floyd was not arrested that night.
The incident was not reported but was first discovered when public defenders watched the footage then filed a complaint against the sheriff’s office.
According to the complaint, Cady’s comments and tone were “inflammatory,” “angry,” and “derogatory.”
The complaint said the “video clearly depicts Mr. Floyd attempting to de-escalate the situation as he talked to the deputy. Deputy Cady responds by grabbing Mr. Floyd by his neck and chokes him, then pushes him into a car all while Mr. Floyd is holding his infant child.”
According to Atlanta Black Star, Cady won’t be criminally charged, and his suspension stems from four internal affairs charges, including conduct unbecoming.
His poor judgment and failure to properly document the force used during the incident are the reasons for his eight-hour suspension.
Broward County Public Defender Gordon Weekes criticized the penalty as a “slap on the wrist,” asking, “Does it really send a message that that type of behavior is not to be tolerated?”
In 2019, Floyd told television station WSVN, “We all know, a Black male, when you call him ‘boy,’ you tell a colored man ‘boy,’ it’s like, you’re degrading his character. You mean nothing to this person ’cause you’re calling me a boy.”
Watch the full boy camera footage here:
