An Iowa Cop Beat A Shoplifter In Front Of Her 1-Year-Old Daughter

An Iowa mom is being advised by a civil right’s organization after video surveillance of her shoplifting and then being pummeled by a police officer has been leaked to the press. Yes, shoplifting is not a good thing to do but you know what’s worse than shoplifting? Severely beating a woman in front of her child until she has to be taken to a hospital. From WQAD.com:

A store video shows Redell being beaten and held down by two officers, punched in the head several times, her right eye swollen shut and requiring a trip to the hospital.

”I was asking him why was this happening and I was crying. I was screaming, begging for someone to help me,” Redell said.

There’s no audio on the store tape, but Redell can be seen on her phone, she says, to call her boyfriend to come pick their 14-month-old daughter up while she was being taken to jail. She says when one of the officers heard the name of her significant other, a man known to police, she says he told her ”This is going to get real ugly, real quick.”

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According to the report, Redell bit the officers finger when he started hitting her, but she claims that it was because she was trying to get him off of her. Redell has two previous shoplifting convictions. James Gibson, Redell’s boyfriend who she called to come pick up her daughter, is a community activist who has done sensitivity training with local police. Redell told CBS she thinks race plays a part in this:

Asked if she thought the race of her boyfriend has something to do with the incident, Redell said, ”Yes I do, because I don’t think the police were really thrilled that a white woman was calling a black man for help, especially one that they already weren’t fond of.”

”I think it’s really a travesty for the department because you do have good officers in the Davenport Police Department. That was no way right and it shouldn’t be tolerated,” said Gibson.

Redell was shoplifting in a Von Maur store and you can see the store employee grab the child when the beating starts happening, but even still it must have been so traumatic for this kid to witness. Police Chief Frank Donchez says an internal investigation found that the officers violated policy and were disciplined, but he says the action did not rise to anyone losing their job.

A mother with a child. Who was shoplifting. Not raping someone. Not murdering someone. Mericuh’.

(Image: You Tube)