A video has surfaced on social media of a police officer in Fort Worth, Texas, aggressively arresting a mother and her teenage daughter after the mother called police to report an assault on her seven-year-old son.
A recording of the incident posted on Facebook Live by an extended family member showed the mother, who has been identified as Jacqueline Craig, and her teenage daughter being wrestled to the ground and arrested one by one with a stun gun held against their backs.
Online records show Craig and her 19-year-old daughter, Brea Hymond, have been released from jail. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Craig’s 15-year-old daughter also was arrested. Fort Worth police in a statement Thursday confirmed there were three arrests. Online records show Craig and Hymond were released from jail. The Star-Telegram reported that the 15-year-old was released, too.
The officer, whose name hasn’t been released, was placed on restricted duty while an internal investigation takes place.
It appears from the video that the police had been called by Craig reporting that one of her neighbors had attempted to choke her son. She told the officer one of their neighbors – who is also present in the video – had assaulted their son after he dropped a piece of paper on the ground. The officer replied: “Why don’t you teach your son not to litter?” Craig and the officer then had a tense exchange, and when the daughter attempted to stand in between them, he pulled each one to the ground and arrested them.
The Fort Worth police department said in a statement released on Thursday afternoon that they had reviewed the officer’s body-camera footage but would not be releasing it or many other details because state law regarding internal investigations doesn’t allow them to do so.
“We acknowledge that the initial appearance of the video may raise serious questions,” the statement read. “We ask that our investigators are given the time and opportunity to thoroughly examine this incident and to submit their findings.”
Attorney Lee Merritt tweeted that he was representing the two and had visited them at the Mansfield jail where they are being held on charges that included resisting and interference, he said. He added the officer is under investigation – which the two cooperated with – and will be given 48 hours to prepare a statement and consult an attorney.
The video, which was uploaded by Porsha Craver, who said Craig was her aunt, has been viewed more than a million times on Facebook after it was posted on Wednesday evening.
Activists from the Next Generation Action Network were planning a rally on Thursday evening outside the Tarrant County courthouse to protest about the arrest.
Merritt said the police department did not take Craig’s original report of an assault on her seven-year-old son.
In the video, the officer does not express concern over Craig’s complaints of the man choking her son. After the officer told her to teach her son not to litter, and questioned how she raises her children, Craig raised her voice at the officer, at which point he threatened to arrest her. “If you keep yelling at me, you’re gonna piss me off, and I’m gonna take you to jail,” the officer threatened, with the man accused of assaulting a child standing on the sidewalk.
Following this remark, Craig’s daughter stands in between them, apparently to calm her mother down, and the officer grabs her from behind and pulls her away. Screams break out from onlookers. The officer pulls out his stun gun and pins down Craig, before pointing the stun gun at her daughter and telling her to get on the ground. Both were arrested and escorted to a vehicle around the corner.
