The charges against Jazmine Headley, the woman who was arrested after she tried to keep New York City police officers from ripping her child out of her arms in a video that has since gone viral, were dropped Tuesday. The ordeal began Friday, when Headley went to a Brooklyn food assistance center to secure benefits for herself and her child, Pix11 reports. Since there were no seats available, Headley sat on the floor, prompting the center to call the police. When she refused to leave, officers tried to arrest her and take away her baby. When Headley fought back, the situation escalated, culminating in horrifying video footage of an officer trying to pull the child away while Headley screamed, “You’re hurting my son!” Headley was later charged with resisting arrest, acting in a manner injurious to a child, obstructing governmental administration and criminal trespass.
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez decried the officer’s actions Tuesday when announcing that he would drop the charges. “Like everyone watching the arrest of Jazmine Headley, I was horrified by the violence depicted in the video,” Gonzalez said in a statement. He blamed a Human Resources Administration officer for “escalating” the altercation, and added that “the consequences this young and desperate mother has already suffered as a result of this arrest far outweigh any conduct that may have led to it.”