A Pennsylvania woman is seeking justice after she says she was assaulted by a cop after coming to the defense of three Black girls who were forcibly removed from a local theater for unclear reasons.
Melanie Carter posted footage of the ordeal to her Facebook page, saying she arrived at the Phoenix Theater in North Versailles Thursday night to see an officer pushing a young Black girl out of the doors “aggressively.” When she asked what happened, the girl explained she was playing with her friends in the arcade when Officer Chris Kelly grabbed her from behind and removed her from the building.
“The officer then went back inside and made several other Black girls leave the theater,” Carter wrote. “I started filming at this point and was assaulted by the officer who banged my head on the concrete while placing his knee in my back.”
The minute-long clip shows the officer and another man berating the girls, claiming they were causing trouble inside. The other man, who appears to be a theater manager, then accuses the girls of “behaving like animals.”
Seconds later, the officer confronts Carter, who was filming at the time and accuses her trespassing. He asks her to leave the premises while pulling a pair of cuffs from his holster.
“I paid my money, I’m not going anywhere,” Carter is heard saying. ” I didn’t do anything. You better not touch me … I have not broken any laws.”
The camera becomes shaky as the officer throws her to the ground and places her under arrest. Carter said she is now seeking a lawyer to make her case against the officer.
