African American

so sad, angry, disgusted... by the peoples' stories such as this



My family flew to Arkansas to be with my sister after my niece was killed in a tragic car accident. We spent the day getting clothes for my 4-year old niece’s body and making arrangements with the funeral home. Exhausted, we made our way to a hotel to get some rest.
My sister needed fresh air after such an emotional day and decided to take some calls outside. She spoke on the phone for about an hour when random officers rolled up flashing lights in her face in the middle of her call with my dead niece’s father.
She showed the police her hotel key and they got out of the car and asked for identification. She told the police her ID was inside, in her hotel room. She asked the police what she was doing wrong, they exited the vehicle surrounded her.
She immediately called my mother and I on the phone and yelled that she needed our help, that white police were harassing her. My mother, myself and my aunt, who happens to be legally blind, ran as fast as we could downstairs.
When I got outside, my sister was facedown on the ground with a cops kneeling in her back - I screamed ‘what are you doing to my sister?!’ - another officer turned around and immediately pulled out his taser, pointed it at me and yelled that he was going to arrest me, too.
My family and I began screaming that my sister was staying at the hotel, that her daughter just died the day before. They ignored us. My mother told me to go inside, I was irate. My sister lay helpless on the ground, and the sight of that took me over the edge.
I began calling friends and lawyers in New York City, trying my best to temper my emotions, which were running high. The officers weren’t listening. The situation was intensifying. I was feeling all types of emotions, but paramount among them was anger.
My Aunt stayed outside pleading with the officers, attempting to explain the circumstance. Two more cop cars pulled up. The officers kept referring to my sister as Jane Doe, even though one of them admitted to hearing about my niece’s death on the news. Disgusting.
When asked why my sister had been arrested, the cops said there had been car burglaries in the area days prior and that they were arresting my sister under that suspicion because she was outside pacing back and forth on her phone.
Not only was she no where near the parking lot, we’ve spoken to hotel staff, and found out that there have been no break-ins for over a month. Her failure to provide I.D. was ‘enough’ for them to place her in handcuffs even when they simply could have verified with the front desk
After 30 minutes of frantic back and forth and threatening to call attorneys, they finally let her go after nearly 30 minutes of holding her in the back of their vehicle. My entire family is shaken. This has been the most exhausting 48 hours of our lives. Shame on @westmemphispd