Photo: Moment RF
A Florida mother is speaking out after viral footage showed a white police officer body-slamming and choking her during school pickup, per CBS News.
The incident occurred on October 7 in Jacksonville’s Riverview neighborhood as Erika McGriff, 39, was picking up her 9-year-old daughter from school.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO), Officer Randy Holton, who was stationed at the school, approached McGriff after she left her car running at an intersection. A verbal altercation ensued when McGriff allegedly walked away and resisted arrest. Body camera footage shows McGriff and Holton engaging in a struggle. At one point, McGriff appeared to swing at the officer, who then bodyslammed her to the pavement and put her in a chokehold.
“I couldn’t breathe,” McGriff recalled, noting that Holton grabbed a handful of her locs during the encounter.
McGriff was charged with three felonies, including battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, and operating a vehicle with a revoked license.
“All I was trying to do is get my daughter out of school. That’s all,” McGriff said during a press conference with her attorney, Ben Crump. “I asked the principal what was the proper procedure when picking up the walkers whenever it was raining. He explained to me the procedures. I then went to pick up my daughter. What happened after that was uncalled for and is not fair.”
Crump is calling for all charges against McGriff to be dropped, arguing that the officer used excessive force.
“We don’t want to have to keep coming back to have Black people being brutalized and killed,” Crump said.
JSO Sheriff T.K. Waters defended Holton’s actions.
“It’s shocking to me that you square up to fight a police officer … maybe then you’re gonna get a citation and go to jail because it’s a third-degree felony,” Waters said in a statement. He claimed the officer followed proper procedure and that McGriff resisted arrest.
Two bystanders, Jasmine Jefferson and Anito Gibson, were also arrested under Florida’s HALO law, which requires a 25-foot buffer around first responders during active duty. Crump called their charges “bogus,” adding that they were only trying to help McGriff.
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