The Kansas City Police Department is facing backlash over a video that shows one of its officers with a knee on the back of a pregnant Black woman during an arrest.
According to CNN, officers responded on September 30 around 11 PM to a call from a security guard about a large group fighting on the property of a gas station at 35th Street and Prospect. Police say surveillance cameras showed people pushing each other outside the business.
Police say one man interfered with the officers’ investigation and refused to leave. When officers tried to detain him, they say people in the crowd tried to pull him away. Police say a woman named Deja, 25, who was nine months pregnant, was among them, and an officer arrested her for hindering and interfering. Video of the arrest shows Deja face down on the ground as officers detained her.
The officer says he tried to arrest her while she was standing, but that she kept physically resisting, so he placed her on the ground. He has also defended himself, saying he took care not to put pressure on her with his legs.
Many people are outraged by the video. Deja’s attorney, Stacy Shaw, told CNN the question is why an officer would take down a woman who was about nine months pregnant and put a knee in her back. According to Shaw, the baby is unharmed and Deja received treatment for nerve issues related to the incident.
Protesters have gathered at city hall demanding that Police Chief Richard Smith resign and that half of the department’s budget go to social service groups that help the Black community. A KCPD spokesperson says Smith has no plans to step down, and the department has declined to release the names of the responding officers.
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