There seems to be a trend at Waffle House restaurants that’s hazardous to Blacks and Latinos.
Three weeks ago, Travis Reinking
opened fire at a Waffle House in Tennessee, killing four people of color, and police used excessive force while arresting a Black woman at a Waffle House in Alabama, even exposing her breasts. A video posted on Facebook this week shows a Warsaw, N.C., cop choking a young, Black man wearing prom attire and slamming him to the ground.
After 22-year-old Anthony Wall escorted his 16-year-old sister to the prom on Saturday, the two decided to go to a Waffle House for a bite to eat. Wall said he got into an argument with several wait staff members and police were called.
He did not discuss the details of the argument, according to
The News & Observer. And it hasn’t been determined if customers at the restaurant or Waffle House employees called the authorities.
Wall
posted the video on Tuesday to his Facebook account.
The Warsaw police officer, whose name has not yet been released, grabs him by the neck, choking him, and pushes him up against the side of the restaurant.
You can hear Wall say, “Get your hands off of me,” with a raspy voice as if he were gasping for air.
A woman recording the video talks about the officer’s actions.
“He’s not supposed to do that,” she says. “I’m glad I’m recording this.”
The officer, still holding Wall by the neck, slams him to the ground and handcuffs him.
That is Anthony Wall, in prom clothes, being lifted off the ground & choked by a Warsaw County police officer Frank Moss at Waffle House. Was this action justifiable Was it necessary/proportionate given no threat & size difference #PoliceBrutality #equality #ikennaobisblog pic.twitter.com/2FZ2V97dGQ
Ikenna Obi (@Real_IkennaObi) May 12, 2018
“I was pretty much trying to scream for air and trying to breathe because he was holding my throat and that’s when I got aggressive with him because you are choking me,” Wall told a
local ABC affiliate.
Warsaw Police Chief Eric Southerland said the department and District Attorney General Ernie Lee are investigating the incident.
Once the investigation is complete and the District Attorney has had a chance to review the case we will provide the public with an update on the findings,” Southerland said in a statement.
The youngest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., Bernice King,
tweeted Thursday to Stay out of Waffle House until the corporate office commits” to a discussion on racism and employee training.
