A video showing police officers arresting a black woman at a Waffle House in Saraland, Ala., and causing her breasts to be exposed in the process, has led to outrage from the community and a growing furor online.
The incident, which reportedly began Sunday after a disagreement about a 50 cent charge for plastic utensils, triggered a sit-in protest at the Saraland Waffle House on Sunday afternoon.
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In the video, police force the woman, Chikesia Clemons, to the floor and cause her breasts to be exposed during the struggle.
The Mobile chapter of the NAACP has said it is still gathering firsthand accounts of the incident.
Clemons’s mother said her daughter was not asked to leave and was waiting for employees to give her the district manager’s card so she could file a complaint regarding one of the waitresses. The police showed up as employees were getting the card, the mother said.
Waffle House employees have contested the Clemons family’s account of what happened on Sunday.
Waffle House has said that police intervention was not appropriate but noted that the information it received differs from Clemons’s account.
Chance the Rapper defended Clemons via Twitter on Monday.
“This is wrong, this is unjust and this happens to a lot of women when there are NO cameras around,” he wrote.