|
John —
On Memorial Day, I took my kids and our new puppy to
the beach near our home in Miami. It was supposed to be a
treat. But it turned into a nightmare when the police
attacked my 14-year-old son for no reason.
My son Tremaine was horsing around with one of his
friends when the police showed up on ATVs. Tremaine was holding a
newborn puppy in one hand and a bottle in the other. The police asked
him where his mother was, and he turned to walk toward me. That's
when the police pounced on him, threw him to the ground, injuring our
puppy and choking Tremaine so hard he urinated on himself.
It was a horrible, violent experience that left my son
terrified and depressed. And now the police are charging my
son with felony resisting arrest. Resisting arrest -- for
what? All he was doing was standing on the beach holding a
puppy!
Tremaine loves animals, and we love to watch Animal
Planet together. He was so excited about our new puppy. Memorial Day
was supposed to be a fun kickoff to our summer together -- since I
work in Miami Dade public schools as a nutritional specialist, I get
the summer off to be with my kids.
But now, instead of spending time together, we're
preparing for Tremaine's hearing on July 16. Instead of worrying
whether he'll stay out too late, I'm worried about finding a good
lawyer. I still can't believe this is happening. The police
attacked my son for no reason, and now they're throwing these charges
at him to justify their brutality.
But there is some good news -- public pressure can be
very powerful in situations like these. Last fall, a man in New York
was brutally beaten by police and then charged with resisting arrest,
but after more than 100,000 people signed a petition on Change.org,
all charges were dropped. I hope that if enough people sign my
petition, State's Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle will drop these
trumped up charges against my son.
Thank you,
Maurissa Holmes
Miami, FL
|
No comments:
Post a Comment