Police Punched Son At Newport Mall In Jersey City, Says Hoboken Dad

HOBOKEN, NJ — A Hoboken dad has told the media this week that he's angry after seeing a video shot at the Newport Mall in Jersey City over the weekend in which Jersey City police get into an altercation with his son.

"I really just looked at that video," wrote Leon Blake of Hoboken on Facebook on Tuesday. "I keep replaying it ... I’m sitting here in tears. These m----s had a gun on my son."

Blake told News 12 Thursday that son Kalil, 16, had to be taken out of school and now awaits a court date on multiple charges.

He and his son said that Kalil was heading to the mall on Sunday to meet a friend. He said that the police were responding to another situation and mistakenly got Kalil involved. Leon Blake said his son was knocked unconscious.

Two videos of different incidents involving the Jersey City police were posted on Twitter this week and sparked outrage.

Blake posted one of those videos on Facebook this week and asked people to help it "go viral."

The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said Friday that they could not comment on the matter.

However, a Jersey City police spokeswoman said Friday that both police incidents on video are being investigated.

Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said, "It is important to point out that as part of our increased training initiatives, the officers have undergone extensive training for these scenarios to ensure officers only use any type of force when it is absolutely necessary. The administration created a Force Unit to conduct internal investigations regarding all use of force, and both incidents are currently under investigation. As has been made clear, in Jersey City we have zero tolerance for excessive use of force."

She added, "As is standard procedure, the city is working with the HCPO and provided them with all of the body camera footage. Therefore, we cannot comment while it is actively under review."

George Floyd Attorney Involved

Blake told Patch on Friday that his son is now at home waiting on a court date. But he said that attorney Ben Crump, who represented the family of George Floyd, will represent his son.

"He’s just on home monitoring awaiting his court date," Blake said Friday, "and we just obtained attorney Ben Crump."

Patch has reached out to Crump's firm for comment.

Kalil Blake acknowledged in media reports that he had a "small knife" on him, but said he wasn't using it.