Mercutio Terrell Southwall Sr. being tasered by Alabama police
On December 26, Randall Anderson and Mercutio Terrell Southall Sr. were leaving a Homewood, Alabama Walmart, after participating in a #BlackLivesMatter protest, when they were approached by a Homewood, Alabma police officer. Within minutes, Southwall Sr. was being arrested and tasered by a group of police officers for trespassing, despite the fact the pair were obviously leaving the property.
Randall Anderson began recording and captured the whole ugly scene. The Homewood, Alabama police were displaying the exact kind of heavy-handed, over-the-top tactics these men were there protesting in the first place. As Anderson was walking to the driver's side door of his car, he was also arrested for "not moving fast enough."
Randall Anderson posted the video to Facebook where it has now surpassed two million views:
Just got out of JAIL!
So me and the gentleman Mercutio Terrell Southall Sr. was just released from Homewood, Alabama Jail.... Let me know what we did wrong... We were literally 5 feet from MY car trying to leave. He was headed to his motorcycle to leave and was stopped by the officer. Why they beat this man like that?!?!
#BlackLivesMatter
Watch the whole video and see how police unnecessarily escalated the situation:
By all accounts, the
protesters were peaceful:
At 4 p.m., Homewood police officers, Mountain Brook police officers, Jefferson County Sheriff's Department officials and Alabama State Troopers responded to Walmart at 209 Lakeshore Parkway.
About 40 people were involved in a peaceful protest. They chanted "No justice, no peace," and "I can't breathe" on the side of the road, then marched through the Walmart parking lot and into the store.
This situation could've been over and done within a matter of minutes if the police had showed even a hint of restraint instead of escalating the problem.
H/T Addicting Info