Source: Wukela Communications
Charges have been dropped against 40-year-old Twyla Stallworth, the Black mother who was violently arrested and detained for more than 12 hours in Andalusia, Alabama, after her neighbor called the police on her over a noise dispute on Feb. 23.
In fact, not only have charges been dropped against Stallworth — who was arrested for refusing to present an officer with ID, which she was within her legal right to do since she was in her own home — but Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson also issued an apology to her on Friday. However, Johnson — who is white — immediately addressed the allegations that Stallworth’s arrest was “racially motivated,” which is to say, he dismissed them outright based on the cop not explicitly displaying racism in video footage of the incident.
“On behalf of the City of Andalusia and the Andalusia Police Department, I would like to apologize to Twyla Stallworth for her arrest in February. All charges against Ms. Stallworth are being dropped,” Johnson said, before going out of his way to downplay the behavior of Andalusia Police Department Officer Grant Barton. “The arresting officer has a clean record with our department, but he made a mistake in this case on February 23rd. He has been disciplined for failing in his duty to know the law.”
Johnson continued: “When I learned about this incident last week, I offered to meet with Ms. Stallworth. She declined. Ms. Stallworth has not filed a complaint with the police department, but her attorney alleges in his release that her arrest was racially motivated. We have reviewed bodycam footage of the incident, and see no evidence of racism. We have always worked hard in Andalusia to maintain great relationships among our diverse populations.”
As we previously reported, this whole episode started with a white neighbor playing loud music, according to lawyers for Stallworth, who they said called the police multiple times with hopes that the cops would put a stop to the noise. However, the cops allegedly ignored those calls but answered the 911 call placed by the white neighbor, who complained that Stallworth had set off her car alarm, reportedly, to fight fire with fire regarding her loud neighbor.
So, the allegations of racism are based on Stallworth alleging that her calls about her white neighbor’s loud music were ignored while the neighbor’s counter-Karen complaint was swiftly answered and resulted in the Black woman’s arrest, even though, as her son even noted at the time, nothing in Alabama law requires a citizen to present identification on demand while they are in their homes. (Not that there was any reason to ask for it in the first place.) There’s no way all of that added context could be viewed in video footage, which makes Johnson’s claim that body-cam footage showed “no evidence of racism” disingenuous, to say the least.
To be fair, Johnson did address the calls Stallworth allegedly made, but only to deny they were ignored.
“In the video released by her attorney, Ms. Stallworth also claims that the police department has failed to respond to complaints she made about her neighbor. We also have reviewed internal evidence that shows the police department did respond,” Johnson added.
Notice that Johnson doesn’t bother mentioning what, if anything, came from the officers’ alleged responses to Stallworth’s calls. If the cops responded, why wasn’t Stallworth aware, and why is she complaining that the loud music continued? Certainly, Johnson isn’t calling Stallworth a liar, otherwise why apologize at all? (You know, assuming you would call that self-serving, cop-protecting, dismissive nonsense an apology.)
It’s also worth pointing out that Johnson didn’t bother addressing or even mentioning the aggressive, arguably violent manner in which Stallworth was arrested. It’s almost as if the sole reason for this “apology” was to appear to address the issue without actually addressing any of it.
But fear not, officers in Andalusia will receive “additional training,” which is odd considering Johnson has dismissed or ignored virtually everything the officer in question did wrong outside of the arrest itself.
“I have met with the Andalusia Police Chief and other leaders in the department,” Johnson said in his conclusion. “We have agreed that the entire department will receive additional training on Constitutional law, the laws of the State of Alabama, and the City of Andalusia’s ordinances, so that we will not have problems like this one in the future.”
Does the good mayor even understand what the “problems” actually are, though?
This is America.
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