At 87, Syrian immigrant Martha Bishara has seen and experienced many things. But on August 10, Bishara, who now lives in Chatsworth, Georgia, could have never expected what would happen to her that day.Martha who moved to the states over 20 years ago, was on her usual walk to collect dandelion greens used for a Syrian salad recipe. That Friday, sporting a headscarf and holding a knife to cut the greens, the octogenarian headed to a lot owned by the local Boys and Girls Club where she quickly set out collecting the greens.
For some reason, a bystander found her presence a little worrying.
The person called the police alerting them that there was a "woman in a blue dress and a brown headscarf" armed with a knife on their lot.When the police arrived, they confronted her, but since Bishara doesn't speak English she had no idea what they were saying. They insisted on telling her to put down her knife and when she didn't comply — continuing to collect greens —
one of the officers drew his gun while the other pointed a taser at her. The next thing poor Bishara knew, she had taser prongs stuck in her chest and stomach and was in excruciating pain.
The officers made the
unbelievably irresponsible and excessive decision to tase the great-grandmother assuming she was dangerous. Even though the person who called the police had warned 911 that the woman
"did not try to attack anyone or anything." What began as a concerned citizen letting law enforcement know of an unlikely, yet possible, public threat, turned into one more example of police making poor decisions and choosing excessive force over common sense to diffuse a situation.
What's worse, even after they assaulted Ms. Bishara, the police then arrested her and charged her with trespassing and obstructing law enforcement before they took her to the hospital where she was treated for her injuries.
Police must be held accountable for their actions, and this is just one more example of the egregious and excessive lengths the police will go to when they have too much power and not enough common sense.
Please sign the petition and ask Chatsworth police chief Josh Etheridge to fire the officer who tased Bishara. Law enforcement needs to root out officers who can't make good decisions, and this policeman has clearly shown that he is incapable of doing so.
