Arrest at Walmart leads to charges of racism

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nearly three years after Heather Ellis switched checkout lines at a southeast Missouri store and touched off what she calls a racially charged dispute with white customers and authorities, the young black schoolteacher faces a trial that could send her to prison for 15 years.
Witnesses have told authorities that Ellis cut in front of waiting customers at the Walmart in Kennett on Jan. 6, 2007, shoved merchandise already placed on a conveyor belt out of the way, and became belligerent when confronted, according to court filings.

Ellis maintains she was merely joining her cousin, whose checkout line was moving more quickly. She claimed in a written complaint to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that she was then pushed by a white customer, hassled by store employees, called racial slurs and physically mistreated by Kennett police officers.

Police say in court documents that Ellis refused requests to calm down and leave the property, allegedly kicking one's shin and splitting another's lip while resisting arrest. Her trial on charges of assaulting police officers, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace begins Wednesday in Dunklin County Circuit Court. Syracuse, N.Y.-based Your Black World Coalition is organizing a Monday rally in Kennett.

A college student in New Orleans at the time of her arrest, the 24-year-old Ellis now teaches in Louisiana, where she is engaged to a state trooper. She has said she feels trapped by "small-town politics" in Kennett, where her family lives.

"What a shame the system can destroy a young person's future like this because of bad cops," Ellis wrote to the NAACP in April.

The group subsequently held a rally in Kennett. Before the June 13 event began, police officers found threatening letters the size of business cards scattered along the route that said the Ku Klux Klan had paid a visit and "the next visit will not be social."

Dunklin County Prosecutor Stephen Sokoloff said the cards were removed and the source investigated but never discovered. He said he doubts the cards actually were from the KKK; he knows of no KKK presence in the area. A call to the KKK headquarters was not answered.
As for Ellis' allegations of mistreatment by law enforcement, Sokoloff said he's "seen absolutely no evidence of any kind, apart from her statements, that those things occurred." Kennett Police Chief Barry Tate did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Kennett is a town of roughly 11,000 residents, about 1,500 of them black. The police department also is predominantly white, but has actively worked to recruit more women and minorities, said longtime resident Charles B. Brown, who served as mayor from 1991 to 2003.

"We're a small country town with greater problems than racism. Our problems are economic," he said, explaining that Kennett needs more jobs.

Some community leaders fear the "big paint roller" being used by observers of Ellis' case has resulted in unfair portrayals of the town as prejudiced.

"They're searching their hearts and minds, and that's just not us," he said.

Sokoloff said he would have filed the same charges regardless of the races of those involved. Last week, he took himself off the case, telling the Southeast Missourian newspaper he hoped it would refocus attention on the facts. A special prosecutor from Cape Girardeau County was appointed.

Ellis and her lawyers, Scott Rosenblum and T.J. Hunsaker in St. Louis, declined to comment on the specifics of the case. She has previously rejected plea deals.

"Why would you plea bargain if you're innocent?" said Ellis' father, the Rev. Nathaniel Ellis of Kennett.

"This is not a matter of justice," he said. "It's a vendetta."

Ellis' written account to the NAACP describes she and her cousin getting into separate checkout lanes before Ellis switched into the faster-moving line. The woman behind them had placed items on the conveyor belt, and Ellis alleged the woman pushed her when she tried to put her own items down.

Witnesses instead told police that Ellis shoved the woman's merchandise back, according to court filings.

Ellis wrote that a security officer and manager were called over and that although Ellis said she wanted to pay, the manager yelled at her to leave the store. Police were called and arrived.

Officers eventually followed her to the parking lot, she said, using racial slurs and telling her to go back to the ghetto. As her aunt and uncle drove into the parking lot, Ellis said, the officers "jumped" on her even though she said she was not resisting.

Officer A.W. Fisher wrote in a probable cause statement that Ellis was given "every opportunity" to comply with officers and leave the property. He said she used an expletive in telling him she would beat him if he put his hands on her.

Fisher said he then told Ellis she was under arrest, but she would not stop fighting while being handcuffed.

Following her arrest, Ellis alleged, she was thrown against doors on the way into jail and an officer later twisted her shirt with his knuckle to choke her while she was in custody.

"Incidents involving our customers are unfortunate and we take them seriously," Walmart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said in a statement earlier this month. "In this matter, there was a disturbance and law enforcement was contacted, in accordance with our normal procedures. The police then determined how to proceed."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

where's the tape?? They video EVERYTHING at those places... I wanna what went down exactly!!

RenHoek said:

knowing what i know after 21 years of retail management, ole girl jumped the line, got called out on it, and made a big scene. every thing after that is nonsense.
[Edited 11/16/09 14:11pm]

Fury said:

20+ in retail as well and I TOTALLY agree, hell I've had folks put something down on the belt and plain walk away expecting to get back in line 5mins later... but I still think the tape would be AWESOME to watch...

That's what you get for playing the old "I'm gonna get in this line. You get in that line and whoever gets to the cashier first I'm gonna bring all my shit over there or you bring all your shit over here because we're "together". Bullshit. She deserves what she got. My sister called a bitch out for the same shit at Target. Some people just got fuckin' nerve!

dannyd5050 said:

dannyd5050 said:

I've seen that shit happen before and thought it was the most triflin' shit ever!!!

she should have been arrested for that jacket

I heard about this on Tom Joyner's show. That girl deserves everything that's coming to her.

as they say, bi7ch, please

She definitely shouldn't get any sympathy for cutting the line, but I don't think it is right that it is being turned into a racial issue, with the KKK getting involved.


Oh, and fuck Walmart.

Yeah I read this story and thought the same thing as has been posted before.

She got called out for cutting in line, and then got ghetto with them.

Now she's using the race card.

If anything else, she should go to jail for THAT. Save the race card for important matters. Being denied a job, a home, a living. Not for being denied a quick checkout at f*cking Walmart when your stupidass clearly was in the WRONG.



If the NAACP doesn't step away from crap like this, they risk losing credibility.

PurpleJedi said:

No that was ghetto what she did in the first place!

All of this drama because she couldn't wait 10 more minutes in a line?
Wow.....real dumb.

Shit like that is why I can't do retail anymore. I've seen some SHIT.

ScarletScandal said:

Shit gets REAL crazy at holiday time.

dannyd5050 said:

People like that are the reason why I HATE shopping at Walmart.

daPrettyman said:

Exactly. Especially with the rude cashiers as well.

all this cause she couldn't wait and was impatient...damn

sometimes u gotta know when 2 back down

uPtoWnNY said:

customers get that glazed over..crazy arsed look in their eyes

old ppl are the worst for pushing in line, walk straight up to counter and dump stuff....even though there are ppl patiently waiting in an orderly queue

prb said:

Yes! They think they can get away with it because they are elderly and no one would dare say anything to them. One time I was in a long line at the drugstore, with one cashier who was excruicatingly slow and this little old lady hobbled to the front to the line with her box of day old oatmeal cookies. I said, "Excuse me, the end of the line is back here." She replies, "But I just have this one little thing." I said, "We all just have one little thing." But the cashier let her cut in front of everyone anyway!! That is one reason I stopped patronizing that drugstore chain.

I can believe she did all of this due to her impatience and bad temper. A woman at my work 2 days ago pushed past 3 wheelchair guests, she physically grabbed one of the guests on the wheelchair and pushed them away so she could be boarded on the aircraft first, she said she had priority over them because she had an infant. After she went sick at me and my delta partner I offloaded her from the flight and the protective services officers took her away and fined her. She is now red flagged from all future flights with Virgin. Suffer!

PanthaGirl said:

oh wow, haha cool that u can do that!

missmad said:

Yah we have the empowerment to do what we like when it comes to abusive peeps because if they pose a threat before boarding the aircraft then onboard in cabin will pose a bigger threat to cabin crew and other guests.

PanthaGirl said:

right makes sense, but still cool u have that authority lol.

missmad said:

Yah it's pretty cool mate...

missfee said:

PanthaGirl said:

ScarletScandal said:

Never, ever, ever, ever...again.

I had a cell phone thrown at me because I wouldn't sell the woman more than 3 boxes of cold medicine containing ephedrine. Fuckin' meth heads. I quit!