Black woman alleges police assaulted, unlawfully detained her in North Carolina
Ja’Lana Dunlap, 22, says she was yanked from her car and slammed against a police trunk while being handcuffed by Fayetteville police.
Cell phone footage allegedly showing a Black woman being illegally forced into handcuffs by Fayetteville, North Carolina police officers is under investigation.
Ja’Lana Dunlap, 22, told ABC News she was working as a property manager and had stopped to check on one of her buildings on Sept. 6 when Fayetteville police officers approached her car and began questioning her.
The officers, reportedly on the search for a suspected fugitive, asked Dunlap her reason for being on the property. She replied that she was there to take photos confirming the cleanup of illegally dumped furniture and trash from the site, per the outlet.
Dunlap told ABC News that she then declined an officer’s request for her identification, citing North Carolina’s lack of “Stop and Identify” laws that would require her to provide ID upon a police officer’s request.
Dunlap said she began recording the encounter after police continued their demands, at which point, she said, an officer grabbed her left arm, which can be seen in the video.
In the video, Dunlap is heard asking the officer to let go. The officer held his grip while asking Dunlap to exit the vehicle, telling her to “stop resisting.” She said she would stop resisting if her arm was released.
The footage recorded by Dunlap then became shaky as the officers pulled her out of the car and took her phone, she alleges. She said officers handcuffed her after pushing her violently against the trunk.
Dunlap, who has sickle cell anemia, told ABC News the incident caused her to begin hyperventilating and vomiting from the stress.
“They were actually trying to yank me back up with the handcuffs behind my back to the point where I had to ask, ‘Y’all please stop so I can finish throwing up,'” she told the outlet.
“I really was trying to do everything to still keep my composure, remain calm, but when you’re scared and terrified and you can’t call anybody,” she said, “you go into fight or flight pretty much, you go into survival mode.”
Dunlap said the officers ultimately removed her fanny pack and retrieved her identification, releasing her after looking it over. She told ABC News she sustained hand bruises, scratches and swelling in the scuffle.
Following a formal complaint Dunlap filed to the Fayetteville Police Department, Chief Gina Hawkins released a statement saying that she understands why the footage, publicly released by Dunlap’s attorneys this week, “causes concern and the desire of the public to know more.”
Dunlap told ABC News in response that she felt the statement did not show regard for her humanity or how the incident impacted her.
“You’re addressing my video footage but you’re not addressing me as a person or how I would feel about the situation,” she said.
Dunlap told ABC News she has resigned from her property management position for her mental health after the encounter, which is currently under investigation by the Fayetteville Police Department and the Internal Affairs Unit.
Harry Daniels, an attorney representing Dunlap alongside attorney Carnell Johnson, said he believes the incident was racially motivated, and said that a federal lawsuit will be filed on the matter.
“Quite frankly, I believe that Ms. Dunlap would not be subjected, would not be here today having this discussion if she was a different race,” Daniels said. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. I think they intimidated her because she’s a person of color. And we are here to fight on her behalf.”
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