Ramming Their Car and Handcuffing Them At Gunpoint
These moms want an answer from the Secret Service and I don’t blame them. These Secret Service members attacked these Black moms and they gave no answer to their actions.
These officers from the Secret Service rammed the parked car that held the moms and their kids. Then as the moms looked up they saw the barrel end of a rifle! The officers were pointing guns at them and yelled orders to leave their vehicle. 45 minutes the babies cried and these mothers thought they might be the next Breonna Taylor.
“I could have been another Breonna Taylor. I could have been another innocent woman who has no record and got shot” Winston, one of the moms, stated. The moms sent a letter to the Secret Service but they have yet to respond. Also, like in George Floyd’s case, these moms were never read their Miranda Rights when handcuffed.
This is ridiculous. These events may seem to increase but they haven’t. What has changed is the amount of coverage they are getting now. Which as great as it is, is also a bad thing. These crimes from the people who “stop” them have been blasted all over media and it hasn’t gotten better. Below is the letter they sent.
The Letter
Dear Acting Secretary Wolf and Director Murray:
I write with strong concern regarding the arrests of two District of Columbia residents by officers with the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division on the National Mall. I understand from public reporting that the parked car India Johnson and Yasmeen Winston were sitting in was crashed into by a Uniformed Division cruiser when they were misidentified. Apparently, a car loosely matching the one they were driving, but with different tags, had been stolen by two men. Ms. Johnson and Ms. Winston were stopped even though they and their young children were the only occupants of the vehicle. I understand that after the crash, the officers got out of their car and one pointed a rifle at the women, yelling at them to put their hands in the air. Even with their young children present, the officer pointed the rifle at the head of at least one of the women. Both women were then handcuffed and separated from their babies, neither were read their Miranda rights, and the officers refused to let one of them breastfeed her son, even though the baby continued to cry out. While the women were handcuffed, the officers also conducted a search of the car despite a lack of an imminent threat, a warrant, permission, or, apparently, probable cause, since at that point it was obvious the car was not the stolen one. Additionally, the officers were not wearing masks even in the middle of a global pandemic.
Please provide a written response to the following within five business days:
- Why did your officers think it appropriate to crash their cruiser into the car, even if they suspected it was stolen, when it appears that the women were not making any attempt to avoid a stop? Did they have their lights and sirens on or anything else to warn the occupants prior to the crash?
- Do your officers normally stop a car that your officers claimed matched a stolen car when the licenses do not match and the occupants of the vehicle do not match the description, or gender, of the suspects? How is probable cause or even reasonable suspicion alleged to have been met in that situation?
- Why did your officers not read the women their Miranda rights when it was obvious that they met the legal standard to be considered under arrest?
- Why were your officers not wearing masks in light of the global coronavirus pandemic?
- Why did your officers point their rifle at the head of one of the women, in front of children, when she had apparently made no effort to avoid arrest or in any other way posed a danger? Is it typical for your officers to draw a weapon on an individual who was pulled over just for having a car that might look similar to one that was stolen?
- Is there dashboard and body camera footage of the event, and if so, will you immediately release it to the public?
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