SOUTH BEND — About 40 protestors lined the corner of Madison and Michigan streets calling for an independent investigation of a South Bend Police Department officer shown on video holding a teen girl down on the ground after a McDonald’s employee complained about her.
The protest, led by Black Lives Matter – South Bend and the former Nu Black Power Movement of South Bend (now renamed All Power) called for the “independent investigation, fair access to body camera footage, and stronger de-escalation training when dealing with youth,” All Power founder Blu Casey told The Tribune.
Protestors were shouting, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.”
“We’ve been going through this for a while,” said David Orta, one of the protesters. “The police department don’t ever seem to actually get punished for what they do. There is no accountability for what they do.”
Orta was referring to the Aug. 15 incident in which Officer Samuel Chaput responded to a complaint call about a person allegedly yelling at McDonald’s workers and threatening them.
Chaput arrived to the fast-food chain location on North Michigan Street to find the girl walking across the street, the officer’s body camera footage showed. He got out of his car and waved her over, saying he got a call about her. When he put his arm over her, in a move the police department said was to “establish a relationship,” the girl yelled, “Don’t touch me.”
The officer then quickly grabbed the girl — a 14-year-old Portage School of Leaders student, her family’s lawyer confirmed — by the back of her jacket and later brought her to the ground.
In the video, Chaput is seen holding the girl facedown, torso in the tree lawn and head out over the curb. The girl says she didn’t do anything and isn’t trying to run, then asks for the officer to call her mother. In the video, the officer says he will take her to her mother and commands her to put her hands behind her back.
Orta said this incident comes when residents still remember the 2019 shooting death of Eric Logan in the Central High Apartments parking lot by South Bend officer Ryan O’Neill and the 2018 death of Erica Flores, who was killed when her car was hit by South Bend Police officer Justin Gorny at the intersection of Western Avenue and Kaley Street as Gorny drove 98 miles per hour.
At the time, South Bend Chief of Police Scott Ruszkowski submitted a letter to the Board of Public Safety, saying Gorny should be fired for neglect of duty, violating department rules and “conduct unbecoming an officer,” The Tribune previously reported.
“It’s mostly people of color that get tossed aside,” Orta said.
Jimmie Womack, who said he was a friend of the family of the girl in the McDonald’s incident, said the problem was resolved once she left McDonald’s.
“She’s gone from the premises, so the problem’s solved,” Womack said.
“They asked for her to leave,” at-large Common Council member Oliver Davis said at the protest. “She took a little longer, but by the time the police got her, she was already gone.”
According to a timeline the police department provided, the 911 call was placed at 12:58 p.m. and Chaput arrived on scene at 1:08 p.m.
“So, in my mind, the situation is over,” Davis said. “Therefore, if she was still in McDonald’s making a nuisance there, it made sense to do what he did. The situation was already resolved. Why create it? That’s my issue.”
The girl’s reaction of telling the officer not to touch her was valid, Davis said. Regarding some of the language the girl used, Davis said it’s the expression of anger, hurt and despair and mistrust.
“We have to understand the language of hurt and the language of pain,” he said
The girl, who was expressing herself in McDonald’s, was told to calm down, Davis said. By the time the girl left the restaurant, she was calm, he said.
“Why re-create the situation?” he asked.
Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: ‘Why re-create the situation?’; Protesters say no reason for South Bend cop to detain girl
Reporting by Camille Sarabia, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
