Sumpter, who attends Harlem Village Academies, was on her way to her first day at a marketing internship on Canal Street when two plainclothes cops spotted her using her student MetroCard at the 125th Street Station. “They didn’t approach me in a calm manner and they were very rude the whole time,” she said. “They were talking to me like they were trying to show they were superior to me.” The DOE confirmed the card is valid until Aug. 17.
The cops demanded to know how old she was, but didn't believe her when she said she was 15—she told them she didn't have ID because she had recently been mugged for her iPhone and wallet. She says a third cop joined them, and pressed her face to a wall while the other two cuffed her. Cops called her father, who vouched that she was 15; still not believing her, they called her mother, who rushed over with her daughter's birth certificate. Alexis was held in custody for 90 minutes altogether, and wasn't arrested or given a summons; but she did go to the hospital because the handcuffs caused swelling on her wrists.
