The family of a pregnant woman who was reportedly Tasered by police says they plan to file complaints against the officers who arrested her.
Tiffany Rent, who is 8 months pregnant, was in the parking lot of a Walgreen’s late Tuesday night, when she was approached by Chicago police who ticketed her for parking in a handicapped space, according to WGN.
Rent parked there because she was trying to calm down her 3-year-old daughter. She tried to explain what happened, but the police officers wouldn’t listen. Instead, they gave her a ticket for $200.
The police report says that Rent tore up the ticket and threw it at the officer. At this point, the police, who had blocked her in, started insulting her, and Rent got into her car because she was scared. They tasered her through the window, and her fiance, Joseph Hobbs, father of the unborn child, had his elbow dislocated while trying to protect her. This all happened in front of her 9-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.
Rent and Hobbs were taken into custody and each charged with resisting arrest and simple assault, and Rent was ticketed for parking in a handicapped space, according to NBC Chicago.
From PressTV:
Police News Affairs told NBC Chicago that they had no information about whether Rent was pregnant, but relatives say Rent is eight months pregnant. Rent was taken to a nearby hospital Tuesday night and released, but her family drove her to the University of Illinois Hospital Wednesday morning after she reported pain during her court appearance.
“How could you do that to a pregnant woman?” Shareeta Rent (Tiffany Rent’s sister) told the newspaper. “My niece and nephew are in the back seat of the car crying. They did that in front of her kids.”
Do the Chicago police really have nothing better to do with their time than to use excessive force on a woman who is close to giving birth? Did they enjoy using that Taser? This story brings to mind the beating death that Kelly Thomas, a homeless man, suffered at the hands of cops in Fullerton, California.
And there are plenty more incidences: just think Oscar Grant.
If you believe that the way Tiffany Rent was treated is outrageous and disgusting, please sign our petition demanding justice for this woman who was Tasered in her eighth month of pregnancy.
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