Smith has said he has no intention of resigning. There is no justification, there is no excuse and we will be holding the officers accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”Ĭivil rights advocates have been calling for Smith's resignation or firing for months, particularly after clashes during demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. “It's another instance of how people in our community have suffered at the hands of Chief Rick Smith and officers of the police department.
“This is another example of the lack of humanity that the Kansas City police department has shown to the Black community,” Shaw said in an interview. The woman was evaluated at a hospital and released but was in extreme pain, Shaw said, adding she was checked Friday by an obstetrician and the baby seemed to be fine. When these officers are wrong, hold them accountable for what they are doing.” “Why (does) nothing ever happen to them when they are wrong, but if I'm wrong I go to jail," Robertson said. Robertson said when the woman asked why police were arresting him, people started yelling that she was pregnant and the officer reacted by throwing her on the ground. He said police have beaten him several times over the years because of his demonstrations. Troy Robertson, who has led demonstrations for peace at the intersection, said he was the one police were trying to arrest. Jackson said Friday police do not comment on personnel issues and did not respond to a question about calls for Smith's firing.Ĭivil rights leaders ridiculed that version of events Friday at a news conference and said the videos show the woman was not resisting. The officer said he tried not to put pressure on the woman's back while arresting her, according to the statement. The officer tried to arrest the woman while she was standing but placed her on the ground when she continued to resist, Jackson said. He said the women in the video and a man interfered with officers trying to arrest another man. David Jackson said in a statement Thursday officers went to the scene after a business owner reported people were fighting. The officer responded by pushing the woman and then throwing her to the ground and arresting her, Shaw said. The woman was filming the event and complained when an officer backed into her. The woman's lawyer, Stacy Shaw, said the woman was attending a balloon release for a homicide victim at an intersection that has been the scene of civil justice and anti-crime demonstrations for years. Police and a lawyer for the woman told different versions of what happened during the confrontation Wednesday night at a business in east Kansas City.
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