Forget chilling in front of your own home if you’re Black. At least that is what one Chester Township, Pennsylvania, family discovered earlier this month after several family members were arrested for loitering.
Rachel Briggs, one member of the family, told KYW News Radio that the incident all began on Oct. 1, when Officer Pasquale Storace III arrested her sons and nephew for “loitering” while they were playing in the front yard.
“The gentleman were taken to jail, they had high bails placed on them. The families scrambled to get their money together, they were able to get them out the next day,” Briggs told the news station.
However, the young men weren’t out of jail for long. When they were released—and thankful family members were welcoming them back in the same front yard—Officer Storace, who is white, once again reappeared and re-arrested the young men and other family members, the family’s lawyer Kevin Mincey said.
“This shouldn’t happen to any citizen, and certainly a homeowner or someone who’s renting a property,” Mincey said.
Graphic video taken by a family member captured the violence as police handcuffed the young men.
Now the family is planning on suing, CBS Philadelphia reports.
“The Chester Township Police Department has failed my family. Instead of protecting us and serving us, they decided to attack us on multiple occasions,” Briggs, who ended up being arrested as well, added.