This article contains content that readers may find disturbing.
According to a new statement from the Atlanta Police Department, three family members who slapped, humiliated, and shaved “GAY” into a young boy’s hair on Instagram Live were arrested and taken into custody.
“Now we gonna show them you getting your ass beat,” a woman who recorded the incident says in the video, which went viral last month. Adults in the video repeatedly accosted him for “doing gay shit.”
Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer, 19, and Brittney Monique Mills, 35, were charged this week with cruelty to children. Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo, 18, was charged with cruelty to children and battery. According to Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail, all three adults were specifically charged with cruelty to children causing “excessive physical or mental pain.” Spencer and Mills’ bails are set at $40,000.
Tyler, the 12-year-old boy seen in the video, was placed with state family services on June 18, the day after the video went viral.
“The behavior in this social media post was difficult to watch and is absolutely unacceptable,” wrote the Atlanta Police Department in a news statement on its website. Officer Gary Anthony from the Public Affairs Department of the Atlanta Police told the Daily Dot that the news statement is the most up-to-date information available to the public.
According to Healthline, “harassment, discrimination, and violence due to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity can cause severe damage to a person’s overall quality of life, relationship to others, even livelihood,” especially in younger children.
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H/T the Daily Beast