Kristine Hendrix, a 35-year-old mother of three boys and an elected school board member in the University City School District, said she was already on the ground with one arm handcuffed behind her back when the St. Louis police officer tased her body at least three times on Friday, May 29 – all within less than one minute.
One of the two arresting officers, who was white, kept telling her to put her hand behind her back, she said. However, she couldn’t move because the other officer – who was black – kept shooting debilitating electrical currents into her body, leaving her with no muscle control, she said.
“He was looking me in my eyes, and it was willful,” she said. “They know what tasing does to a person’s body. To continue to do it and say that I’m resisting arrest, it’s horrible.”
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department declined to provide the names of the two arresting officers to the St. Louis American.
Hendrix had just finished participating in a Black Lives Matter demonstration on Washington Avenue, which started as a silent march by Busch Stadium at 8 p.m. At about 11:40 p.m., they started marching on the median, which is about four feet wide, on Washington near 13th Street. Police said that they were “putting themselves and motorists in danger” because they crossed the intersection at Tucker Boulevard while the light was red.
That error justified the use of force against the group moments later, police said.
The group had already moved to the sidewalk and were making arrangements to go back to their cars when the police “ambushed” them, Hendrix said.
Activist Dhoruba Shakur was the first to get arrested. Mike Lhotak, a white 28-year-old who helped organize the action, was videotaping the arrest. On the video, an officer yelled to the other officers, “Grab anyone. They were all in the street.”
When Lhotak was being arrested himself, he handed his phone to Hendrix, who continued to videotape as she walked away on the sidewalk – in an attempt to disperse.
In a statement to The American, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said, “When some individuals refused to get out the street, they were arrested. Two of those individuals resisted arrested and were tased.”
Video contradicts police
However, the video shows that the two individuals who were tased – Hendrix and a 21-year-old activist, E.J. – were clearly on the sidewalk. The video shows an officer jumping onto the sidewalk with his Taser drawn and pointed at them. He didn’t state that they were under arrest. He didn’t ask them to stop or get down on the ground. He yelled, “Get back,” and then lunged at E.J. and started tasing him, the video shows.
In a natural reaction to avoid being shocked, E.J. moved to the side, Hendrix said, but they were never told they were under arrest.
Hendrix said she weighs less than 160 pounds, and there were three male police officers standing around watching her get tased.
“It wouldn’t have been that hard for one man to get me to the ground,” she said.
In total, eight people were arrested, including freelance photographer Bryan Sutter, for impeding the flow of traffic. The black activists arrested also received “resisting arrest” charges, but the white demonstrators did not, Lhotak said.
Rasheen Aldridge, an activist and member of the Ferguson Commission, said St. Louis city police are responding more aggressively to protestors than St. Louis County or Ferguson police ever did, especially in recent actions.
“In St. Louis city, I don’t know if they are just amping up or getting sick of what’s going on, but you can definitely tell they are getting more aggressive,” Aldridge said. “They go from zero to 10, and you don’t even know what to expect.”
Hendrix, who has been protesting police misconduct since August, said Friday’s police aggression would not deter her.
“I do it for my children,” she said. “I do it for the children in my youth group and for all children. They deserve an advocate.”
Hendrix said she has not yet filed a complaint against the police, but is looking for an attorney.
Taser policy violated
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s policy on the use of Tasers states that officers may use the weapon when the officer reasonably believes he/she will become engaged in a violent encounter.
The policy also states, “A Taser is never to be used on a passive subject, or as a pain-inflicting device to ensure compliance.”
Hendrix said she was in a passive position – lying down on her stomach – when the officer continued to tase her. Although the video turns black at this point, viewers can still hear her persistent pleas for the officer to stop shocking her.
The policy also states that a Taser should not be used on handcuffed subjects unless they are actively resisting or exhibiting active aggression. The head, face, breast or genitalia should be avoided, according to the policy. Hendrix said the Taser prongs landed on her right breast and hand.
Three or fewer activations of the electrical current from the Taser is considered standard. Police did not respond to The American’s inquiry into how many times Hendrix was tased.
All subjects who experience more than the standard are to be taken to the hospital for evaluation, according to policy. Hendrix said she only received Advil and a Band-Aid by a jail medic.
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson declined an interview with The American regarding the incident, but emailed this statement:
“The department has launched an internal affairs investigation into the incident to ensure all department policies and procedures were adhered to during the arrests as well as examine the events leading up to the arrests. This is an ongoing investigation.”
On Saturday, May 30, Lt. Dan Zarrick, who was on the scene, phoned activist Heather De Mian to share his version of the events. De Mian, who was live tweeting on Friday, recorded the conversation with Zarrick and posted it on social media.
“The female that was tased was resisting strongly,” Zarrick told De Mian and continued on to say Hendrix was a threat. “That police officer took the same tasing she did, because he had a hand on her in between where the two prongs went.”
According to the policy, even if officers are touching the people they are tasing, they should not feel any shock unless they have their hands or body parts in between the two probes. Hendrix told The American that the officer did, in fact, have his hand on her right breast.
Excessive force complaints
Last week, eight people filed complaints against St. Louis city police, claiming that police used excessive force when responding to a demonstration outside of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce’s house on Tuesday, May 19 around 9 p.m.
The group held an action outside of Joyce’s house to protest her decision not to file charges against the officer who fatally shot VonDerrit Myers Jr.
A few minutes after the group arrived at Joyce’s doorstep, police arrived on the scene and used mace to disperse the demonstration.
“They jumped out of the car and immediately started macing people,” said Elizabeth Vega, who helped organize the action. “They didn’t give any warning. We weren’t doing anything that required that kind of response.”
Six arrests were made – including rapper and activist Tef Poe.
Vega was charged with third-degree assault for allegedly wiping pepper spray on Dotson’s shirt. However, Vega told The American that she was trying to tell them to stop spraying them when Dotson ran into her hand. Dotson declined an interview with The American, but emailed a statement that he agrees with the charge.
Follow these reporters on Twitter @Mzzzmariah and @rebeccarivas.
This story is published as part of a partnership between The St. Louis American and The Huffington Post.
