A now-viral video posted on Facebook depicting the arrests of two Black women after they came face to face with a man allegedly assaulting a young boy has sparked an internal police investigation.
In the video, posted by relative Porsha Craver Wednesday, Dec. 21, a Forth Worth, Texas, parent identified as Jacqueline Craig had called police after a white neighbor reportedly attacked her son for littering.
“My daughter and son came home, saying that this man grabbed him and choked him,” Craig says to the cop as her daughter records. “I came around here and asked him. I said, ‘Why did you put your hands on my son?’ He said, ‘Oh, he threw some paper and I told him to pick it up.’ He said he defied him and that’s why he did it. You don’t have the right to choke somebody’s son. My son is 7 years old, you don’t have the right to grab him and choke him.”
The unnamed officer responded, “Why not?” The officer also insinuated that Craig did not teach her son proper manners. As to be expected, the officer’s response angered Craig, who began yelling at the officer. The officer then said, “If you keep yelling at me, you’re going to piss me off and I’m going to take you to jail.”
A young woman identified as Craig’s daughter then approached her mother seemingly to calm her down, but the officer then comes toward both woman unprovoked. At this point, another woman entered the frame and attempted to diffuse the situation, but it only escalated. Craig ended up on the ground with a taser in her back while another daughter continued to live stream.
The officer also arrested the teen in a pink tank top and by the 2:30 mark, both woman are escorted to the back of a squad car.
Near the end of the video, Craver turned and addressed the camera:
“I just want you all to see how the Fort Worth Police Department treated my family after calling them for a racist man putting his hands on a 7-year-old, my 7-year-old little cousin, who couldn’t defend himself. When they called Fort Worth Police, this is what we got. These motherf–king racist-a– officers, who clearly are not here for us. Racist b—hes. … We want everybody to see this s–t, how Fort Worth Police Department is here to treat people and what this racist a– police did. He deserves to lose his job and this is our goal.”
The woman recording the actual video has been identified as 19-year-old Brea Hymond, and she was arrested after her mother and younger sister.
The women’s attorney, Lee Merritt, met his clients around 3 a.m. at the Fort Worth jail, according to The Root.
In the video posted early Thursday, Merritt said that the Forth Worth Police Department has launched an internal investigation into the “unusual arrest.”
He added that both women are in good spirits and he is working on their release.
Still working hard to secure release of Jacqueline Craig & Brea Hymond. They are in good spirits & appreciate all the support. @ShaunKing pic.twitter.com/NBC2RKL3iD
— Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) December 22, 2016
Merritt also revealed that the two were charged with resisting arrest, interference with an officer and failure to have an ID.
Jacqueline Craig & Brea Hymond are being held on the typical charges following police misconduct 1) resisting 2) interference 3) failure/ID
— Lee Merritt (@MerrittForTexas) December 22, 2016
****Update****
Craig and Hymond have been released from jail, reported New York Daily News Senior Justice writer Shaun King.
