By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
An early morning incident on May 15, 2019, where a nude Black woman was allegedly tased by law enforcement has drawn the attention of activist in the African American community.
According to witness accounts, the woman, believed to be suffering from a mental illness, was allegedly tased by a King County deputy sheriff while she was running naked through Pioneer Square.
At a press conference last Weds., Rev. Harriett Walden, founder of Mothers for Police Accountability (MAP), Rev. Patricia Valentine and former State Rep. Dawn Mason, flanked by supporters questioned whether the woman should have been tased at all. Each woman expressed how necessary it is for the community to address and keep the fire burning in holding police officers accountable for their actions, particularly when dealing with those who at the time of engagement may be suffering from a mental crisis.
According to Rev. Walden, this is a serious issue that continues to burden the Black community in Seattle and the world, in the form of police brutality and how hard and difficult the fight was in the past as well as today.
“We have fought really hard in this city for people who are having mental crisis issues to be treated with dignity,” says Walden. “We were outraged by an elderly man being killed by the police back in 1996 and we are outraged as we stand here today as women because our sister, our daughter, our granddaughter, our friend’s daughter was tased.”
According to the group, mental illness, the negative history of police brutality against Black people and people of color has put the Washington state law enforcement community under fire. Not only have they been under investigation the citizens have voted to make sure accountability is taken into account through legislation with Washington Initiative 940 or I-940, the Police Training and Criminal Liability in Cases of Deadly Force Measure which was passed by Washington State voters last fall.
MPA has a number of questions that they are seeking answers to as it relates to the incident, such as “whose jurisdiction was this under King County or Seattle?” In addition, they are demanded that law enforcement release information on where the woman is now?
“Instead of tasing a naked woman where was the care, did anyone think to cover her, cloth her?” And, being naked where was the threat,” Walden questions. “Where was the humanity, why couldn’t the police show her any dignity?”
The press conference centered around the dignity of the women in this scenario as well as other examples of unwarranted and even lethal force by police officers especially against the mentally ill and those who were unarmed. They also emphasized the trauma that people of color, the Black community and others endure as a whole whether you witness police brutality or see it in the news.
Rev. Valentine expressed her grief of the incident as she explained in great detail the role trauma can play on both sides both the victims of police brutality and the police themselves.
“All things that happen to us and that have been spoken about this morning brings about grief on the body, the spirit and the mind,” says Valentine. “Trauma brings about grief and we do not deal with our grief.”
According to community leaders, far too many cases of people dying at the hands of the police without accountability has impacted the psyche of Black America. On a collective level in the Black community, trauma walks, runs, rides with you in your car, sits and relaxes in your home with you from the fear of being stopped and frisked, pulled over or a knock at your door.
Dawn Mason recalled an experience she had as child of a police officer brutally beating a dog that still impacts her today. She remembers where it occurred, where the police car was parked and she says that she still is deeply affected and traumatized.
Mason’s memory of that tragic experience emphasizes the effect the actions of police officers have on the community at large and how important it is for them to be responsible for their action. Mason reiterates the inquires on the well-being of the women as well as her whereabouts in an effort to give her the necessary support she may need.
“This woman we need to know where she is. We demand that the police release her whereabouts. That we know that she’s getting all the care that our tax dollars provide for her,” demanded Mason.
Mason continued, “this woman needs to know that she has someone to stand up and be a voice for her because we are traumatized by this and the police must get their act together.
