A Black woman in Michigan has filed a lawsuit against a white officer after she claims she was discriminated against when the deputy responded to a fight between her and a white couple.
According to the federal civil rights suit filed on Monday, Oct. 10, the fight happened outside a liquor store in Lambertville, Michigan.
Recently obtained bodycam footage by WTVG in Toledo, unveiled Deputy Jack Hall giving a warning to Tracey Douglas while she was covered with blood.
In the video, Hall was heard telling Douglas that she is going to the ground if she touches him again.
“Am I really? Because I’m Black?” asked Douglas in the video.
Hall replied, “What the (expletive) does that have to do with anything?”
The deputy then asked Douglas where she was from, to which she replied, “from Temperance, Michigan.”
Hall then stated, “Okay, I’m from Detroit, so I’m probably more Black than you, so you want to play the race card?”
He then asked Douglas to sit in his vehicle while the white couple was not advised to do the same.
In the video, Hall is heard telling Douglas, “You’re gonna be OK… I want to get you justice.”
The sheriff’s office defended Hall’s tactics and actions.
“The deputy was highly effective at de-escalating and diffusing a volatile situation while also arranging medical care for Ms. Douglas,” said the sheriff’s department in a statement issued to CNN.
According to a police report obtained by CNN, Hall stated, “The female grabbed me several times to get my attention. I told the female to not grab me since she was covered in blood. “I was able to calm the subject enough to have her sit in the rear seat of my patrol car, so I could talk to the other subjects.”
Darnell Barton, Douglas’ attorney, says the deputy never treated his client “as if she was a victim,” according to CNN.
While the sheriff’s department continued to defend Hall’s actions, they did condemn his comment surrounding race card, which they stated was “unacceptable,” according to CNN’s report.
“In that brief moment, the deputy used an unprofessional comment,” the department said.
The department states an internal investigation is underway regarding the incident.