African American

Source--https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1196555434833915904.html

Instead of an apology, the @westmemphispd made the decision to release a poorly written press release. Fire you’re communications team. Ahead of that, I have several points to make...

West Memphis Police Department
@westmemphispd
**Press Release for November 17, 2019. https://www.facebook.com/164542670241364/posts/3065218950173707?d=n&sfns=mo …

4:43 PM - Nov 18, 2019
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This ‘statement’ is a reimagining of circumstance based on a singular and conveniently skewed interpretation of events. My sister lost her child. We’d just come back from seeing her body. She told @westmemphispd that. They threw her on the ground for screaming.


As if they’re blithely unaware of their department’s reputation and the reputation that many POC are on the receiving end of: unwarranted harassment, manipulation, falsifying evidence, killing innocent civilians - the list is lengthy - I digress.


My sister lost her child. Also a fact they conveniently ignore. We’d just come back from seeing my niece’s body. My sister informed them of that. They threw her on the ground for screaming when surrounded by two burly white men with guns. Raising a voice in fear is not a crime.


What they fail to mention in this shitty ass excuse for crisis control is that my sister initially complied - showing them her hotel key. The officer snatched it, became increasingly aggressive, how convenient they only release dashboard footage and not the body cam.


Police don’t have the right to harasses law abiding citizens for walking outside an establishment of which they’re a patron. Had it not been for my family’s intervention, my sister might have been sent to jail, or worse.


And these police officers were all too eager to profile my sister to fit a racist, trope-ridden narrative around criminality. This is shameful, and frankly - not surprising.


I held my sister as she cried last night, comforted her as she screamed for her child this morning. We’ve not even had an opportunity to grieve in peace because existing, in and of itself, is grounds for suspicion by these officers, and individuals like them.



I see that a couple of the local TV stations have replied to his tweets.


I hope this family finds peace. I had close friends whose young daughter/niece was killed in a car accident. The mother never recovered from her grief, and committed suicide a year later