“Go Away. Bye” [No Right to be Left the Fuck Alone] Baltimore Reaches $630k Settlement w/76 yr old Black woman Thrown to Ground by Provocative White Cops, who Insisted on Providing Unwanted Service

NO. I DON’T WANT YOUR FUCKING COMPULSORY SERVICE. From [HERE] Baltimore County will pay $630,000 to the then-76-year-old woman thrown to the ground during an arrest at her home in January 2020.

Cellphone video capturing an officer tackling Rena Mellerson, of Gwynn Oak, sparked public outrage and both criminal and administrative investigations of officer conduct — with the chief of police calling the footage “unsettling to watch” when it surfaced in 2020.

Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger said Tuesday his office had reviewed the criminal investigation and determined no criminal charge would be filed. The police department said the administrative investigation into potential policy violations had concluded but declined to provide the outcome, instead requesting a reporter file a public records request. It confirmed both officers were still employed.

A federal lawsuit filed in 2021 concluded on Friday, court records show.

Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon said the $630,000 settlement represented “the justice [Mellerson] was looking for.” An additional $15,000 each will go to the guardians of two children who were at the home.

According to police, an officer arrived at Mellerson’s home in the 7000 block of North Alter Street on Jan. 10, 2020, to arrest her granddaughter for disorderly conduct during a previous interaction. Apparently the fragile white cop was really in his feelings about the young woman calling him names and telling him to go away, “bye.” In general courts have recognized that police officers are trained to be more patient than the average person in the face of hostile words: police officers are trained to deal with unruly and uncooperative members of the public. A police officer is expected to have a greater tolerance for verbal assaults, . . . and because the police are especially trained to resist provocation, we expect them to remain peaceful in the face of verbal abuse that might provoke or offend the ordinary citizen.

Not so, with this fragile white cop, he had to show her he is their master. [MORE]

Body camera footage released by the department shows tensions escalated at the front door of the home — Mellerson’s granddaughter refused to exit; the officer used pepper spray and fired his Taser unsuccessfully, then drew and pointed his handgun at the door he said closed on his foot.

He eventually entered the home and pulled Mellerson outside. A second officer then ran up to her and threw her to the ground.

The footage shows she was barefoot outside, where there was snow on the ground. She can be seen in handcuffs trying to ensure the children who were at the home during the arrest have someone to watch them.

A lawsuit filed by Gordon, who represented Mellerson and the two children at the home, identifies the two officers as Cpl. Sean D. Brennan and Officer Brian Schmidt.

Brennan was the police officer attempting to arrest Mellerson’s granddaughter, Cierra Floyd. Schmidt threw Mellerson to the ground.

The lawsuit argued Brennan used excessive force and committed unlawful assault and battery on Mellerson, the two children and others in the home when he drew and pointed his weapon and when he “indiscriminately deployed OC spray and his department-issued tazer.” It says the spray contacted the two children, causing temporary respiratory complications.

It also argued officers had no legal justification for arresting Mellerson, and that she was assaulted, in violation of her rights, because at the time she was “attacked” by Schmidt, she was cooperating and posed no threat.

“Even more egregious, after handcuffing Mellerson and removing her from the cold, hard, wet ground, Officer Schmidt forced her to walk barefooted for a while,” the suit said.

Mellerson was initially charged with second-degree assault, obstructing and hindering and resisting or interfering with the arrest of her granddaughter, police said. The charges were dropped by prosecutors by mid-March 2020.

Floyd, Mellerson’s granddaughter, ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct and was granted probation before judgment [dismissed without a conviction], court records show. She was initially charged with other offenses, including second-degree assault on law enforcement, failure to obey a lawful order, second-degree assault and resisting and interfering with an arrest.

Body camera footage previously released by Baltimore County Police showed a verbal altercation between Brennan and Floyd at an earlier scene police responded to for a report of a child damaging vehicles. Police previously released a 911 call prompting their arrival in which a caller said “somebody better hurry up before I cut this little boy.”

In the body camera footage, Floyd swears at Brennan and expressed frustration with the child. Both Floyd and Brennan shout at one another, with Brennan telling her she was “becoming a problem” and would be arrested.

Charging documents indicated Brennan used a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration database to identify Floyd and track her to Mellerson’s house.

Gordon, Mellerson’s attorney, called the officer who sought to arrest Floyd “out of line” and “rogue in his conduct.” Schmidt tackling Mellerson, he said, was “outrageous.”