"Suffering from asthma" refusal to wear leads to Taser use
Racial slur calls flood against Black officer
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] During a middle school football game in Ohio, USA, a white woman who refused to wear a mask was hit with a taser gun fired by a Black police officer and arrested. This incident, which sparked racial confrontation controversy in the local community, reportedly led to a flood of abusive calls to the school and the police department.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 26th (local time), on the 23rd at a middle school football stadium in central Logan, Ohio, school resource officer Chris Smith fired a taser gun at a white woman who refused to wear a mask, causing controversy. The Logan City Police Department stated that Officer Smith found the woman sitting in the stands without a mask and repeatedly requested her to wear one, citing the school regulation that all spectators must wear masks or face coverings.
The white woman, named Alesha Kitts, refused the mask-wearing request, claiming she had asthma, and also refused Officer Smith's order to leave the stadium. When Smith attempted to arrest her by handcuffing her, Kitts strongly resisted. In the circulated video of the incident, Kitts shouted, "You can't arrest me just because I didn't do anything damn wrong," and "Let go of my wrist." Then Smith fired the taser gun at Kitts's shoulder to subdue her. Kitts was charged with resisting arrest and trespassing.
This incident caused significant controversy in the local community amid ongoing racial confrontation issues and anti-mask protests in the United States. On the following day, the 24th, the Logan-Hocking School District, to which the school belongs, received threatening calls, protests were held, leading to the closure of affiliated schools. The Logan City Police Department also reportedly received racially abusive calls targeting Officer Smith, who is Black.
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