The Chicago police dragged a Native youth organizer out of her car and arrested her and wouldn't explain why. After she was released, she had to walk two miles in the snow in a hoodie and long underwear bc the rest of her clothes, her phone and bus card were not returned.
She wound up at a different station than where she was arrested & the cops left her belongings. The cops' excuse for this attack: they say Janie “used the alley as a thruway” & “was driving left of center” on a one-way. Also claimed the car smelled like "burnt cannabis."
They demanded a blood sample. She said no, so they arrested her. When I learned of this, I was so enraged my hands were shaking.
I am working on connecting Janie with a lawyer. I think we may have that base covered, but as you can imagine, this has already been an emotionally, physically and financially draining situation. If you want to pitch in to help her out, her Venmo is @Janie-Pochel
@janie Can you even imagine what could have happened to her out there, wandering around in long underwear & a hoodie in the snow and the freezing cold? Because I can. Because those things happen to our young people all the time. The rage y'all. The fucking rage. How dare they.
@janie Janie could face a fine of up to $2500 and jail time bc the police decided to rough her up and arrest her over something that 1) did not happen 2) would not be grounds for dragging someone from their car, roughing them up & arresting them even if it had happened.
@janie When they dragged her from her car, she kept asking "why" & they said "you know what you did." But she had no clue what nonsense they were accusing her of. She asked them if they were going to kill her and they said, "if you die, it's your own fault." My blood is boiling, fam.
@janie Exactly.
@janie Y'all pls do not message me telling me that I should ask her to file a complaint. She knows how to do that if she wants to, but I would never ask her to do so. A civil attorney is one thing, but expecting the system to police itself in any way is folly & could leave her worse off
