A graphic video showing police officers wrestling a black 25-year-old woman before arresting her inside a Saraland, Alabama, Waffle House restaurant Sunday is making the rounds on social media, sparking outrage across the country. The incident allegedly escalated over 50 cents' worth of plastic cutlery.
Chikesia Clemons was arrested around 2:45 a.m. on charges of "disorderly conduct and resisting arrest," her mother, Chiquitta Clemons-Howard, told AL.com. She paid her daughter's $1,000 bond Sunday morning.
In the cell phone video, captured by Clemons' friend, Canita Adams, Saraland police officers are seen speaking with Clemons and then pulling her off a chair and onto the floor of the restaurant.
“What are you doing?” Clemons asks the officers in the video.
“I’ll break your arm, that’s what I’m about to do,” an officer responds.
Two officers are then seen wrestling with Clemons, grabbing her neck and wrist and trying to flip her over to arrest her. The altercation turns graphic as Clemons' clothes are pulled down "to reveal her breasts as white patrons continue to eat in the background," AL.com reported.
Related: Philadelphia Starbucks arrest: Men say manager called 911 minutes after they arrived
In the video, when the officer placed his hand around her neck, Clemons cries, “You’re choking me!”
Clemons-Howard told AL.com the incident arose after Clemons refused to pay an extra 50 cents for plastic utensils and the employee canceled the order. According to AL.com, Clemons and Adams said they were not charged for utensils when they ordered from the same Waffle House the night before.
“They didn’t even ask her to leave, she was waiting for them to give her the district manager’s card so she could file a complaint on one of the waitresses,” Clemons-Howard told AL.com. “When they went to go get the card, that’s when the police showed up. The officer should’ve come in and said we need you to leave.”
Chance the Rapper weighed in on Twitter.
"Protect our women. This is wrong, this is unjust and this happens to alot (sic) of women when there are NO cameras around," he wrote. "Stand with our women. Defend their voice, and their right to ask why they're being handled, being removed, being CHOKED. Be infuriated. Be willing to fight."
The altercation and arrest come 10 days after two black men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia on trespassing charges.
Mobile, Alabama, NAACP President David Smith said in a statement Sunday that the organization is looking into the episode.
“In light of the current situation in our country -- such as the arrest of two young black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks coffee shop -- we felt it was important for our members to get a firsthand account of the incident, which has now gone viral on social media locally and across the country,” Smith said.
A spokesman with the Saraland Police Department also said the department is investigating. The department also said that Saraland's public safety director, Chief J.C. West, and Mayor Howard Rubenstein are aware of the situation.
"The Saraland Police Department is aware of the arrest at Waffle House and the accompanying video on social media," the department said in a Facebook post. "The situation is being thoroughly reviewed and is under active investigation right now. Our department strives for transparency and we encourage our community to be aware of current events."
Read more at AL.com.
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