Dontae Parks, a 29-year-old man, and his 2-year-old son went viral after a photo showed them at a peaceful protest in California as a police officer pointed a gun at the toddler. The picture has been circulated a lot on social media and now, Parks is speaking out and is calling for the cop to get his badge taken away.
"The officer in the photo — he should not be a cop at all," says Parks to The Sun, referring the image of the officer pointing a gun near his 2-year-old son on his shoulders at the Long Beach protests.
The man also claims that, in addition to being threatened with a rubber bullet gun, they were also told they would be sprayed with tear gas.
"What's the matter with you? You are a monster! You are really going to gas this child? What about your child?" asked one woman at the protests, yelling at officers.
Parks' son was wearing a Batman costume and held a "Black Lives Matter" sign as his father carried him.
"I feel it's uncalled for - I don't think they should be firing any type of weapons especially in a crowd where there is a peaceful protest and there's a child nearby," said Parks. "I was speaking to the cops. There were a couple of them who told me they thought I should go home or 'Get out of here' but I said there's no need for me to go home, I'm here for the protest."
Thankfully, Dontae is able to speak about his experience.