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irisblue

(32,828 posts)
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 11:11 AM Nov 2019

Grieving while black in a hotel parking lot---8pm update

Last edited Mon Nov 18, 2019, 09:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Thread Reader App (@threadreaderapp) Tweeted:
@FotiNC Saluti the unroll you asked for: Thread by @crtv_drctr: "Last night, @westmemphispd cops accosted and attempted to arrest my grieving sister for STANDING OUTSIDE OF OUR HOTEL AN […]" https://t.co/7eJCheP5oK
See you soon. 🤖


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Grieving while black in a hotel parking lot---8pm update (Original Post) irisblue Nov 2019 OP
I'll have to read after work - The Polack MSgt Nov 2019 #1
the story... I am too often handmade34 Nov 2019 #3
God damn it The Polack MSgt Nov 2019 #5
Thank you for helping me out here. 😢 irisblue Nov 2019 #6
To help bury Baby Girl irisblue Nov 2019 #2
Let me try again. C&P on this phone stinks irisblue Nov 2019 #4
Heartbreaking sheshe2 Nov 2019 #7
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Nov 2019 #8
West Memphis PD twitter & The Commercial Appeal, Memphis newspaper irisblue Nov 2019 #9
That is outrageous. brer cat Nov 2019 #10
Update from West Memphis PD irisblue Nov 2019 #11
From The Child's Uncle irisblue Nov 2019 #12

The Polack MSgt

(13,159 posts)
1. I'll have to read after work -
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 11:14 AM
Nov 2019

Thread Reader is blocked by our firewall.

But I'm kicking and reccing for visibility

handmade34

(22,755 posts)
3. the story... I am too often
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 11:20 AM
Nov 2019

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


The Polack MSgt

(13,159 posts)
5. God damn it
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 11:24 AM
Nov 2019

Thank you for the unroll handmade34.

Unfortunately, it was just as disgusting as I suspected it would be...

irisblue

(32,828 posts)
2. To help bury Baby Girl
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 11:15 AM
Nov 2019

::I have no connections here, the whole thing is horrible::

And I do not have more follow up info at this time



Richard Brookshire (@crtv_drctr) Tweeted:
HELP: Yesterday, my niece was killed in a tragic accident, hundreds of miles from home. As my family begins to grieve, a mere 7 days ahead of what was supposed to be her fifth birthday - we need help covering the costs of her funeral arrangements. https://t.co/kYbKYLANWd https://t.co/4ZZXDpIl8C



irisblue

(32,828 posts)
4. Let me try again. C&P on this phone stinks
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 11:24 AM
Nov 2019

Last night, @westmemphispd cops accosted and attempted to arrest my grieving sister for STANDING OUTSIDE OF OUR HOTEL AND MOURNING THE LOSS OF HER DEAD DUAGHTER. Threw her to the ground, put her in handcuffs and put their knee on her back, before throwing her in a police car.


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


I just broke up the big wall of text, these are not necessarily the texts






Response to irisblue (Original post)

irisblue

(32,828 posts)
9. West Memphis PD twitter & The Commercial Appeal, Memphis newspaper
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 12:55 PM
Nov 2019

Last edited Mon Nov 18, 2019, 02:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Has nothing on this event, they do have this tweet from last week though.

West Memphis Police Department (@westmemphispd) Tweeted:
“The purpose of World Kindness Day is to highlight good deeds in the community, focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness that binds us.” https://t.co/4j9OYKqqAm


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The newspaper, The Commercial Appeal, doesn't have any thing either. I'm too peeved to look at the TV station info


brer cat

(24,401 posts)
10. That is outrageous.
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 02:31 PM
Nov 2019

Some police officers are out of control and need to turn in their badges. I feel so sorry for this woman having to deal with this during her period of intense grief.

irisblue

(32,828 posts)
12. From The Child's Uncle
Mon Nov 18, 2019, 09:02 PM
Nov 2019

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
Twitter Ads info and privacy
53 people are talking about this
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

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