Staring down the mayor of Phoenix and its police chief, 12-year-old Savannah Taylor made a confession to the city leaders after a viral cellphone video emerged of police officers screaming profanities and pointing guns at a black man, his pregnant fiancee and their two young children.

Savannah noted that police said the couple’s 4-year-old daughter walked out of a Family Dollar store with a doll without paying for it, a seemingly innocuous act that escalated into a major confrontation and led to the girl’s parents, Dravon Ames and Iesha Harper, being manhandled by officers and in fear for their lives.

“When I was little, I [have] done things like that,” Savannah told the city leaders at an emergency community meeting on June 19. “My grandpa told me that my mom did that when she was little.”

As many in the crowd of more than 2,600 chuckled, Savannah’s voice turned serious.

“So, can you guys all imagine you guys as little kids doing that with your parents and then being pulled over by a police officer with guns pointed at your face and you’re worried whether you’re going to lose your life that day or not,” the African American girl said. “It’s sickening and it’s sad. I’m shaking right now cause I can imagine that happening to me and my brother.” Read more

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Staring down the mayor of Phoenix and its police chief, 12-year-old Savannah Taylor made a confession to the city leaders after a viral cellphone video emerged of police officers screaming profanities and pointing guns at a black man, his pregnant fiancee and their two young children.

Staring down the mayor of Phoenix and its police chief, 12-year-old Savannah Taylor made a confession to the city leaders after a viral cellphone video emerged of police officers screaming profanities and pointing guns at a black man, his pregnant fiancee and their two young children.