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On December 2, Dana Elmore, a white female police officer in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, detained, cuffed, and tased a young black man identified as 24-year-old Micah Washington. He was reportedly trying to fix a flat tire on the side of the road. However, Dana Elmore took the man into custody for allegedly acting “suspicious.”
As soon as the video of the incident surfaced on the internet, it sparked mass outrage, with netizens demanding justice for the victim and Dana Elmore’s termination from the job. Nathan Lynn started a petition on change.org on December 5 titled:
“Petition to release Deputy Dana Elmore from the Pickens County police force of Tuscaloosa.”
The petition has received over 200 signatures and is gaining momentum.
Dana Elmore is the Sheriff’s Deputy in the Pickens County Police
According to the petition, Dana Elmore, the white female cop who frisked, cuffed and tased a young black man on the roadside of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has been identified as the Sheriff’s Deputy of the Pickens County Police.
Dana Elmore is also associated with the state’s Reform Police Department, according to WVTM13. The department's official website states that she even received the Life Saving Award for her contribution to protecting and serving the citizens of Pickens County.
Dana Elmore under fire for alleged racial discrimination against a black man
Over the weekend, a young black male named Micah Washington was detained by Dana Elmore in broad daylight. He was reportedly fixing a flat tire of his car when the white female cop spotted him on the side of the road in Tuscaloosa and arrested him for being “suspicious.”
A video of the incident first emerged on Facebook, and later circulated across all social media platforms. It showed that Deputy Elmore first frisked the young man on the wet ground before lifting him and dragging him onto the hood of a Pickens County Police patrol car.
Moments later, she was seen tasing the man against his back with a stun gun. When Washington informed her that he was carrying a handgun, she was seen laughing and saying, “Oh yeah?” before retrieving it from his pants pocket.
Micah Washington screamed, “Oh my God!” in pain after being tased, which is when Elmore asked him to “shut the f*ck up” as he continued to cry. When she further asked, “You want it [tasing] again?” the man responded, “No, ma’am.” However, Officer Elmore threatened him to stop crying, which is where the footage ended.
The now-viral video has triggered mass outrage online, with people tagging the incident as unjust racial discrimination. Netizens have demanded the firing of Deputy Elmore from her job and justice for the young man. Here are some of the remarks in this regard from the comment section of @XGiles01’s tweet on the same.
According to Pickens County Sheriff's Office’s statement to WVTM13, the young man is still in custody. He has been held on multiple charges, including drug trafficking, marijuana possession, possessing a firearm as an ex-felon, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental operations.
Meanwhile, a joint press release by the Reform Police Department Chief of Police Richard Black and Mayor Melody Davis revealed that they knew about the incident and the circulation of the video online.
The statement also said that the case was being handed over to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, which will lead to a “thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arrest.” Deputy Elmore has been put on administrative leave following the outrage.
On Monday, members from Washington’s community protested near the Reform City Hall. Jalexis Rice, the young man’s girlfriend and witness to the incident, told reporters she could only cry in the situation.
