A California woman has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles after she was allegedly forced out of her home at gunpoint, while nude and on her menstrual cycle in July 2019, according to NBC Los Angeles. To make matters worse, the woman’s younger sister and 5-year-old son were present, as she was ordered downstairs and outside while bleeding onto the ground.
The woman, who is being referred to as Jane Doe, does not want her identity revealed due to the nature of the video and her lawsuit against Los Angeles County. Her grievances include battery, negligence, unlawful search and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The officers, who barged into her home were looking for Doe’s brother. He was reportedly being arrested at a different location while she was coincidentally being treated like a criminal. “[They] yelled at me to come downstairs, and I didn’t want to make the officers with the weapons nervous, so I went down the stairs, and once I went down the stairs, it just went left from there,” Jane Doe told NBC4’s I-Team. “They tied me up, I was dragged across my grass, keep in mind, I was on my menstrual period. I’m completely undressed, on my front yard.”
Jane Doe did some quick thinking on her way down the stairs as officers became more aggressive with commands and excessive force.
“They snatched me off the stairs and tried to take my phone out of my hand,” she said. “I was able to throw my phone to my little sister before they had me in handcuffs.”
Doe’s sister began recording immediately, which did little to alter a situation that was already out of hand. The comforter she was using to cover herself was so loose that she could feel the air coming from under it.
“The officer was barely holding onto it. I could feel the wind coming up under me because I wasn’t dressed. I could just feel all air,” she said. “By the time I got out the door, he opened my cover and released it so it could drop. When that dropped, I fell to the ground because I didn’t want all these police officers that was [sic] outside — it was a bunch of male police officers — to see me naked.”
#ICYMI Black woman in #Lancaster forced outside naked while on period by #LACounty sheriffs. Deputies claim they had a warrant for her brother–but he was already in custody in #SouthLA. They also made her 13 y/o sister go outside w/out a shirt on. 🤬 #LASD #BlackWomen pic.twitter.com/O1f3vSZ1fd
— Jasmyne Cannick (@Jasmyne) July 13, 2020
From there, Jane Doe say the incident turned even violent, abusive and degrading.
“An officer had his hand on my head and pulled my hair. I had bald patches from where he pulled my hair out. Another officer used both of his knees on my neck and back — I ended up with two sprained wrists and ankles and my left shoulder was sprained,” she said. “One officer said, ‘Aw s—’ and started giggling when his hands touched my private part and I was like ‘ain’t no aw s— you know exactly what you’re doing.”
Lawyers for LA County have denied the woman’s claims.
