Posted on 07/17/2014 10:05:28 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
CLAIRTON, Pa. A 17-year-old girl says she was beaten by police in Clairton after she and her friends were stopped for a curfew violation Wednesday night.
Merceedez Wright admits she and her friends were out a few minutes after the city's 10 p.m. curfew, and that she both ran from officers and resisted them after being tackled, but she doesn't believe she deserves the injuries she suffered.
"I didn't think cops would do that to me because I'm a girl. And I didn't have anything on me. I was just trying to walk away from the situation," Wright said from her room at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. "I was terrified. I thought I was going to be getting beaten up for hours."
Wright said she and her friends were walking home from the Soft Serve and Dee-Lites ice cream shop on Miller Avenue when they were stopped by officers for being out after curfew. When they tried to go back to pick up a bag and a phone they left behind, they claim the officers tried to detain them.
Wright said she continued walking away from the officers, who then allegedly used force to stop her.
"They both just tackled me to the ground and smashed my face into the ground with their feet and their legs. Then they started pulling my hair and pushing me and stuff, and I was screaming real loud," Wright said.
Her friends said they watched as officers used force to subdue her.
"(The officer) ran full force at her and she ran from him," said Destiny Hester. "They pounced on her, then started kicking her and pulling her hair."
"I hear her screaming, I run over there and she's on the ground. They're over there beating her up, kicking her, pulling her hair," said witness Bryon Clifford.
Wright is now recovering in the hospital with injuries to her trachea, esophagus and neck, plus several cuts and bruises.
"She's a cheerleader, she's a lifeguard at the Clairton pool, she was just on prom court," said Wright's mother, Audelia Amoah. "She's a good kid."
Even so, Wright admits she ran from officers.
"I was scared because of how he got out of the car. He didn't just walk out, he jumped out of the car and started chasing me, so my first instinct was to run," she said.
Wright also said she did resist officers once she was knocked to the ground. She said she was trying to get her arms free to protect herself.
Clairton police did not respond to requests for comment.
My guess is that they were trying to save her. She was on the sidewalk at the time they were just being rolled up.
“..she both ran from officers and resisted them after being tackled,..”
I’ve always said “You gotta be tough to be dumb”
She didn’t get beat up for violating curfew. She got beat up for not following orders.
It could be worse, they could have shot her dog.
Curfews, unless there is an immediate public safety danger, are IMHO unconstitutional. She should sue the city and policemen involved for all they got................
“She didnt get beat up for violating curfew. She got beat up for not following orders.”
So tell us all, what would you be doing if she were your daughter?
When I see names like ‘Merceedez’ and ‘Bryon’, I think spoiled rotten little bastards who think the rules don’t apply to them and will break them with impunity.
vs "All police are jackbooted thugs who want to shoot your dog first, then you and your family".
This should be an interesting thread.
Yea but, she's a girl so she doesn't think she has to follow orders or communicate with the police.
She probably thinks they are to be ignored, like parents:
You just turn around, walk away, tossing you head and, say, "What Ev" and leave them talking to themselves.
Interesting point — in today’s political expectations they might fail a court test on freedom of peaceably assembling. But some humongous lawsuit... can’t see it.
She seems to have pretty much guaranteed herself a beating.....
How long until the Jessie And Al Show arrive? Or was the cop black, too?
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And in a police state nothing is more important than following orders.
Yelling at her for being stupid and telling her she’s lucky they didnt shoot her.
When I grew up teenagers ran from police all the time. Sometimes they were caught but they were never beaten up.
she [admits she] both ran from officers and resisted them after being tackled...
DUH!
Thats right, good citizens follow orders.
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