Two Chicago police officers told a wildly fabricated story that resulted in a black, female reverend’s arrest, charged with attempted murder, and convicted for “reckless conduct.” Thanks to dashcam video, that reverend may finally see some vindication against a police department already embroiled in controversy.
In 2013, Reverend Catherine Brown was stripped, beaten, and pepper-sprayed by two Chicago police officers. Her vehicle, in which two of Brown’s children were riding along with Brown, was slammed into by officers and Brown was pepper-sprayed, as were her children, who caught the fallout from the spray.
CBS News Chicago reports that:
“Brown said the beating was the result of a traffic dispute after the officers drove down an alleyway heading to her driveway. In her account, the officers immediately escalated what should have been an innocuous traffic maneuver into a full-on screaming match involving firearms and profanity. Brown attempted to drive away, but the driver of the Chicago police vehicle rammed her.
‘Beat me down to my underwear, pulled my skirt off me,’ Brown told the station. ‘They beat me with the sticks and hit me with their boots in my head.'”
The two officers, Jose López and Michelle Morsi-Murphy, justified this inhumane treatment of Reverend Brown by saying the woman had hit one of the officers with her car and injured her severely, even hospitalizing her.
“The incident started about 9:10 p.m. in the 8300 block of South Kerfoot Avenue, when Gresham District police pulled over a vehicle for a traffic violation, police spokesman Hector Alfaro said.
As police approached, the woman driving hit the officer in the face then sped off, striking her with the vehicle and dragging her, Alfaro said.
Roughly a dozen police cars escorted the ambulance rushing the officer to the Streeterville neighborhood hospital.”
Brown was originally charged with attempted murder, which was later downgraded to a misdemeanor charge. Brown was eventually convicted of “reckless conduct” for driving in reverse to escape the terrifying scene and save herself and her children.
She was punished for trying to flee her own assault by those sworn to protect and serve her and her children.
Brown is now suing the Chicago Police Department and, after three years, dashcam video of the confrontation has been released to the public. The video shows a very different scenario than the one officers described.
Featured image screengrab via YouTube
