“This is a systemic, cultural, deeply ingrained, coming-down-from-leadership type of attitude, where this is not community policing—it’s community terrorism, practically.” – Sarah Schielke, attorney for Karen Garner, 73-year-old grandmother of nine.
Like the Virginia incident involving a Black, uniformed U.S. Army lieutenant, this incident involving a white, Colorado grandmother happened in 2020, and is surfacing only now because of a lawsuit filed against police. From Vice News:
Garner has dementia and sensory aphasia, an inability to understand spoken and written speech, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on her behalf this week against the city of Loveland and three officers involved in Garner’s arrest.
Hopp asked Garner why she didn’t stop after he activated his lights and siren, at which point Garner gave him a blank expression, said something unintelligible, and started to move away.
The rest you can guess.
While Garner’s children were doing their best to keep an eye on her, she slipped out to Walmart the afternoon of her arrest, Schielke said. Later, Garner wound up wandering out of the store without paying for Pepsi, a candy bar, a T-shirt, and some stain-removing wipes—worth less than $14 altogether.
Walmart employees stopped her and took the items back. They then refused her attempt to pay and called the police, according to the lawsuit.
Seventy-three years-old. Dementia. Five feet tall. Eighty pounds. Tackled. Handcuffed. Hog-tied.
It’s a wonder they didn’t think she deserved to be tasered worse. And if she’d been black?