Alabama’s Saraland Police Department announced Sunday that it was investigating the arrest of a 25-year-old black woman whose chest was exposed when three white police officers flung her to the tiled floor of a local Waffle House.
Video footage of Chikesia Clemons’ 3 a.m. Sunday arrest was filmed by her friend Canita Adams and later shared online.
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“You’re not going to grab on me like that, no,” Clemons tells an officer is who holding her arm. Clemons and Adams are heard explaining that they were only asking for the corporate number of the diner, to file a complaint.
Seconds later, the video cuts to the officer pushing Clemons to the ground as another officer grabs her legs. Trying to keep her chest covered, the struggle between Clemons and law enforcement continues as they try to put her arm behind her back.
“You’re about to break her arm,” Adams is heard yelling. “What are y’all doing?”
The officer who was first recorded grabbing Clemons is later seen pulling on her dress. By this time, Clemons’ dress has been completely pulled down, fully exposing her chest.
At one point in the recording, the same officer is also seen putting his hand on Clemons’ neck. He later removes it after Clemons yells that he’s choking her.
According to AL.com, the altercation began after the three unidentified officers entered the establishment just as Clemons was waiting for an employee to give her the contact information of the restaurant’s district manager. Clemons, who was intending to file a complaint, requested the number because a woman working at the diner was going to charge her 50 cents for plastic utensils, which the establishment had never done before.
Clemons was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She is currently out on bail after her mother, Chiquitta Clemons-Howard, posted her $1,000 bond.
“They didn’t even ask her to leave, she was waiting for them to give her the district manager’s card so she could file a complaint on one of the waitresses,” Clemons-Howard told AL.com. “When they went to go get the card, that’s when the police showed up. The officer should’ve come in and said ‘we need you to leave.'”
“The footage shows the story completely. My nerves are very, very bad right now,” she added.
Hours after the footage was shared online, community members flocked to the Waffle House to protest Clemons’ arrest. One protester was arrested; it’s unclear why he was taken into custody.
The Saraland Police Department released a statement on Facebook Sunday in response to the bubbling outrage saying it was conducting its own investigation into the matter and that details would be released at a later time.
“Our department strives for transparency and we encourage our community to be aware of current events,” the statement read. “Saraland’s public safety director, Chief JC West and the mayor are aware of the situation and are awaiting the results of the investigation. When the facts of the investigation are gathered, we will have a response.”
Pat Warner, a spokesperson for Waffle House, told AL.com that the company stands by the actions taken by the officers and that it is “still obtaining and reviewing information.”
“[I]t’s fair to say that the information we have received at this point differs significantly from what has reportedly been attributed to Ms. Clemons and strongly supports the actions taken by the Saraland Police Department,” Warner stated.
But the department and the restaurant aren’t the only ones conducting investigations. The Mobile, Alabama, chapter of the NAACP is also digging into the incident.
“In light of the current situation our country — such as the arrest of two young black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks coffee shop — we felt it was important for our members to get a firsthand account of the incident which has now gone viral on social media locally and across the country,” David Smith, president of the chapter, told the outlet.
The Alabama incident took place on the same day that Travis Reinking allegedly opened fire on a Tennessee Waffle House, killing four people. Reinking was taken into custody Monday.
