Arkansas State Trooper Sparks Outrage After Allegedly Body-Slamming, Punching Black Teen During Traffic Stop

Arkansas State Trooper Sparks Outrage After Allegedly Body-Slamming, Punching Black Teen During Traffic Stop

Trigger warning!!

Newly released dashcam footage of an #Arkansas state trooper tackling and punching an 18-year-old Black woman during a traffic stop is sparking outrage and calls for a formal investigation. According to an Arkansas State Police report, trooper Moisses Arellano pulled over Alisa Hackett on State Highway 18 near Manila on Aug. 1 after clocking her going 71 mph in a 60-mph zone with her hazard lights on. Arellano noted Hackett wasn’t wearing a seat belt, had a covered license plate, and had a sealed liquor bottle in the car, and he described her as “being difficult” during the stop.
________
After another trooper told him over the radio, “Well, she got an attitude, take her a** to jail,” Arellano moved to arrest Hackett — who is 5-foot-1 and 118 pounds — slamming her to the ground and striking her in the face. In his own report, Arellano wrote that after the teen wouldn’t roll over on command, “I delivered one closed-fist strike to the left side of her face in an attempt to gain compliance.” Hackett was arrested on several charges, including refusal to submit to arrest and possession of alcohol by a minor. Civil rights attorney #BenCrump, who now represents her, is demanding that #ArkansasStatePolice launch a use-of-force investigation and release any prior misconduct reports tied to Arellano.
________
“This trooper slammed an 18-year-old girl to the ground and punched her in the face,” Crump said in a statement, adding, “If you cannot handle a teenage girl without taking her to the ground, cursing at her, and punching her in the face, you should not be wearing a badge.” The Arkansas Department of Public Safety declined to comment, citing pending litigation, and did not say whether Arellano remains on active duty.