An incident with a minor and the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office has gone viral on social media today and I — Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers — am taking this opportunity to respond to it.

The incident occurred Oct. 9, 2023. The juvenile in the screenshot (we have pixelated his photo to protect his identity) was brought to court from a secured custody institution for felony charges in handcuffs. This juvenile has a history of violent behavior but the defense attorney requested the handcuffs be removed while he was in court and the request was granted.

The judge found the juvenile was to remain in the secured custody institution. At that time, the juvenile became very violent and flipped over a table in court. LCSO deputies responded and handcuffed him without incident.

The juvenile was not placed on the floor by our deputies; the juvenile laid on the floor screaming and yelling and refusing to get up. The juvenile had to be picked up and removed from the courtroom. The photos captured above in the screenshot show the juvenile outside the courtroom lying on the floor still refusing to stand.

I responded to the upstairs courtroom and assisted with the incident. The juvenile’s mother was disorderly and would not respond to verbal communications so she was arrested for disorderly conduct.

I attempted to calm down the juvenile and place him into a vehicle for transport but he spat in my face, for which he was charged.

This type of conduct will not be tolerated in a Lenoir County Courtroom or by the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy in the photo did an outstanding job controlling the situation.

I recommend that any news outlet that reports on this incident or any other incident of this nature get the whole truth and not false accusations. I believe 100 percent in treating people the way they want to be treated and I also believe in our mental health system.

Spreading false accusations is not welcome and will always get a direct response.