Last Updated on: 23rd October 2021, 05:59 am
Who is Tamara Taylor? Biography, Wiki
Tamara Taylor is the mother of a 10-year-old girl who was arrested for drawing at a school in Hawaii.
“It’s hard to believe that they weren’t treated this way because of their race,” lawyer Mateo Caballero said of the girl and her mother.
“She was the only student who was examined, disciplined, questioned, and arrested.”
Tamara Taylor’s Age
Her age isn’t cleared yet.
What Was The Incident?
On 10th January 2020, a parent complained to school officials about a sketch Taylor’s daughter and other students drew in response to another student allegedly assaulting Taylor’s daughter.
At the parents’ request, school officials called the police at the school, where they interrogated and arrested Taylor’s daughter and took her to the police station without alerting her mother.
The ACLU said Taylor also attended school and was mistakenly arrested when school staff and police prevented her from leaving the two rooms where she was being held.
Mother “expressed concern about being African American when she encountered police” and was concerned for her daughter’s safety “given the police presence and the high rate of police violence against black people and the discriminatory discipline of black girls in the United States” Schools,” reads the letter from the ACLU.
The Hawaii ACLU joined with Taylor in pushing for policy changes that include interactions between police and children in school. Wookie Kim is the Legal Director of the ACLU Hawaii. He said there were other ways the school could have handled the situation.
“There is an instinct to… call the police first instead of trying other alternatives first. In particular, one of the requirements we place on the Department of Education is that school officials consult with the school counselor before calling.”
“Unless, of course, there’s an emergency that could cause some serious harm to someone, and that wasn’t the case here,” Kim said.
Other schools and police policy changes the ACLU are researching include allowing parents or guardians to be with their child during questioning and requiring police to provide quotes instead of arresting a child suspected of committing an offense.
Taylor’s daughter has since dropped out of school and left the state.
What Was The Tamara Taylor Statement?
Taylor told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Friday that she dropped her daughter off at school and received a phone call the same day about an argument between children and the possibility of calling the police.
When he arrived, Taylor said the officers were already at school.
“They took us to a room; I guess I’ll discuss the situation. However, it was never explained to me what had happened before (ly) to get to where we were then. I didn’t know what was going on at the time,” Taylor said.
She was not allowed to leave that room and only saw her daughter in the distance when a police car left while Taylor was escorted outside, the mother said.
Taylor said she didn’t think drawing was the only motivation behind her daughter’s arrest and that this breed played a role.
“I was deprived of my rights as a mother and my daughter’s rights to protection and representation were deprived when she was a minor.”
There was no understanding of the diversity, African American culture, and history of police involvement with African American youth.
“My daughter and I are traumatized by these events and I am disheartened to know that this day will live on with my daughter forever,” Taylor said in a statement earlier this week.
What Police Have Investigated Up Till Now?
The ACLU demands that the city and state pay the daughter and her mother $500,000 in damages for the damage and suffering caused by DOE staff and HPD officials.
The girl later told her mother that the police forced the girl to take off her shoelaces and earrings at the police station, but she was unsure how. The handcuffs left marks on the girl’s wrists, the ACLU said.
The ACLU is giving police, education officials, and the attorney general until Nov. 8 to respond.
“The attorney general’s office is aware of the letter and will work with the education authority to respond to it,” Special Assistant Attorney General Gary Yamashiroya said on Monday.
Honolulu Police are reviewing the letter and will work with city lawyers to “investigate these allegations,” police spokeswoman Sarah Yoro said.
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