Waffle House says 'police intervention was appropriate' after a video of officers forcing a black woman to the ground, exposing her breasts, sparks outrage
- A viral video shows police officers physically forcing a black woman to the ground, exposing her breasts in the process, at an Alabama Waffle House location.
- The backlash against the police and Waffle House exploded after the video was posted online on Sunday.
- "After reviewing our security video of the incident and eye witness accounts, police investigation was appropriate," Waffle House said in a statement.
Waffle House is under scrutiny after video of a black woman being arrested at the chain has gone viral.
Early Sunday morning, Chikesia Clemons was arrested at a Waffle House in Saraland, Alabama, AL.com reported. Cell phone footage of the arrest, taken by Clemons friend, shows multiple officers physically wrestling Clemons to the ground, exposing her breasts.
"What am I doing wrong?" Clemons asks in the video. "What did I do wrong?"
At one point, an officer put his hand on Clemons' throat when she is on the ground of the restaurant.
"You're choking me!" Clemons says.
According to AL.com, Clemons was arrested at 2:45 a.m., on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Footage from the arrest went viral later on Sunday.
Watch the video, censored by AL.com, below:
Waffle House said in a statement on Monday that, while the company is still "obtaining and reviewing information," "the information we have received at this point differs significantly from what has reportedly been attributed to Ms. Clemons."
"After reviewing our security video of the incident and eyewitness accounts, police investigation was appropriate," Waffle House's statement continued.
Clemons' mother, Chiquitta Clemons-Howard told AL.com that, prior to the arrest, her daughter had disagreed with a Waffle House employee if she had to pay for plastic utensils.
The employee reportedly told Clemons she would need to pay 50 cents for utensils, a charge that Clemons said she had not paid in the past. According to Clemons-Howard, Clemons was arrested after asking for a district manager's card so she could file a complaint.
The viral video of the arrest has sparked outrage online.
"Our children should be able to go anywhere... We need to continue the fight for our children," Clemons-Howard said at a Mobile, Alabama NAACP meeting on Sunday. "We have to stick together. We can't keep on doing this over and over, year after year, week after week."
Chains' treatment and mistreatment of black customers are currently in the spotlight.
Last week, Starbucks announced it would close all locations for an afternoon for anti-bias training, after two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia location. Current and former Starbucks workers were mixed on the company's response to the arrests, telling Business Insider that the arrests were just one symptom of systemic issues surrounding race, stigma, and discrimination.
