Twitter users are speaking out after a video of a police officer using a stun gun on a woman went viral, pointing out that she had “white ...
Twitter users are speaking out after a video of a police officer using a stun gun on a woman went viral, pointing out that she had “white privilege,” and had she been black, she would have “been shot.”
Debra Sue Hamil, 65, was arrested on July 16 for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer, of Cashion, Okla., after she refused to pay an $80 ticket for a broken taillight in the town of Kingfisher. Body-cam footage posted on Facebook by KOCO 5 News reveals the full sequence of events that unfolded after the police officer, Charles Missinne, pulled the woman over.
“I don’t think I deserve to pay $80 for something that is fixable,” Hamil said in the video. “I can fix it if that’s all you want me to do.”
The officer persisted, asking the woman to sign her papers — to no avail.
“You are full of s***,” she said to the officer, locking the doors and refusing to accept her ticket. Missinne is heard asking her to step out of the car, repeatedly telling her she is under arrest for resisting an officer.
The situation quickly escalated after Hamil tried to drive away, leading the officer on a chase. When he finally caught up to her again, he had to physically remove her from the car — which is when she assaulted him.
According to an arrest report accessed on the Oklahoma State Court Records’ website, she is accused of “unlawfully kicking Charles Missinne on or around the groin” with her foot, with “intent to injure,” after knowing he is a police officer.
When Hamil refused to comply, Missinne used a stun gun to stop her.
“Yeah I’m hurt,” she said. “You did not have to taser me,” adding “Yeah, I tried to kick you, because I’m a country girl.”
One Twitter user pointed out how Hamil’s defiance and lack of regard for what the officer was saying is because “She really thought being a white woman put her above the law.”
She really thought being a white woman put her above the law. You hate to see it.
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Others agreed with this, pointing out that she was only restrained with a stun gun and still called “ma’am” after the ordeal — something that would not have happened if she were black.
“If she were black, she would’ve been shot before she pulled off,” the Tweet reads.
If she was Black she would've been shot before she pulled off. Notice the police officer still called her ma'am after all of that.
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Sad thing is, her white privilege still helped her. If she was black she would have been shot before she even took off the first time and the cop probably wouldn’t have used a taser first when she started resisting and assaulting him
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If that were a black woman.... we would be having this conversation about her in the past tense.
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Hamil has been released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to make an appearance in court on Aug. 27.
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