A Florida grandmother is demanding accountability after Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies allegedly forced their way into her home and put her in handcuffs in what she said was a case of mistaken identity.
In an interview with News4JAX, Khristi Jackson said the sheriff’s officers who made their way into her home wrestled her to the ground before handcuffing her. She also said she was later released after the officers realized she wasn’t the female suspect after she was questioned.
The April 27 incident was captured on video, and Jackson’s 4-year-old grandson and two daughters were in the home at the time. Jackson said the officers forcefully placed her in handcuffs shortly after they barged into her home, adding that they did not also have a warrant.
“What’s going on? What’s going on? What’s going on? What’s going on? Can somebody please tell me please? Oh my gosh,” a woman is heard saying in the video.
“They literally slung me on the ground,” she recalled. “One police officer kneed me on my right side while I was on the ground.”
Jackson said the incident occurred after the officers knocked on her door. During her interaction with the officers, she was asked if she was Ms. Cooper; she, however, responded saying she wasn’t that person on two occasions. Jackson said the officers subsequently forced their way into her home after she tried closing the door.
″I got ready to close the door, and it was stopped by the officer’s foot, and all the other officers bum-rushed right through here,” she recalled. During the encounter, Jackson is also heard telling her family members to quickly go for her ID.
Jackson told News4JAX she was later put in the back of a squad car after the officers placed her in handcuffs and brought her outside. She also said the officers did not explain why they had detained her, adding that her Miranda rights weren’t also read to her.
“Once I got inside the car and the officer had four pictures of this girl they were looking for, and out of all the pictures, we don’t look alike. Skin color or hair color. Hers was more red,” she recalled.
Jackson said the officers later released her after she was informed the mix-up was a result of the color of her hair. She also said the incident left her family traumatized – though an officer apologized.
“That they stop it, that they stop brutalizing people like they are doing,” she said. “Communicate with people instead of the first thing you want to do is put your hands on them and slam them on the ground.”
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it is administratively reviewing the incident.
