A Black woman has accused police in Michigan of racially discriminating against her while respdoning to a situation in which she had been attacked this August.
Lawyers for Tracy Douglas, the woman at the centre of the allegations against the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, filed the federal civil rights suit on Monday, CNN and NBC24 reported on Thursday.
Ms Douglas says she was allegedly attacked by a white couple outside a business in Monroe County on 20 August, before being discriminated against by the officer who responded to the scene, the report said.
Video footage obtained by CNN and NBC24 this week showed a Monro Sheriff’s deputy telling MsDouglas: “you’re going on the ground,” after she was accused of touching the deputy.
She responded by saying, “Am I really? Because I’m Black?” The deputy reportedly replied, “what the f*** does that have to do with anything?”
The deputy, who was identified as Jack Hall by the civil rights lawsuit, was then seen in the body camera footage instructing her to get inside his car, as CNN and NBC24 reported
Mr Hall reportedly asked Ms Douglas, who lives in Temperance, where she is from and told her: “OK, I’m from Detroit, so I’m probably more Black than you, so you want to play the race card?”
A deputy can also be seen pushing her into the police car, to which she responded: “Don’t push me!”
The white couple at the scene were not discriminated against or placed in the deputy’s car for questioning, CNN reported. Mr Hall can be heard however saying to Ms Douglas: “You’re gonna be OK … I want to get you justice”.
According to the ClickOnDetroit report, the woman of the white couple who allegedly attacked Ms Douglas had demanded insurance details from the 59-year-old, who allegedly dented the couple’s vehicle with her pick-up truck.
The woman then allegedly used the n-word and attacked Ms Douuglas, who was bloodied from the incident at a parking lot in Lambertville when the deputy arrived. The earlier encounter was reportedly caught on CCTV in the area.
It was unclear on Friday if charges were filed against the couple who attacked Ms Douglas, who was charged with assault and battery. the Associated Press reported last week.
Mr Hall, the deputy, was meanwhile reprimanded by the sheriff’s office last week, with the sheriff’s office saying in a statement to the Associated Press: “The deputy’s comments were made in the heat of the moment and in response to being questioned by Ms. Douglas as to if he was treating her differently because of her race”.
The statement continued: “In that brief moment, the deputy used an unprofessional comment. However, after the initial exchange, the deputy was highly effective at deescalating and diffusing a volatile situation while also arranging medical care for Ms Douglas.”
The Independent has approached Monroe County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
