Women arrested on Thanksgiving; one while filming police
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
The Beaufort Police Department is conducting an internal investigation after a video of an arrest on Thanksgiving that was shared on social media drew allegations of excessive force.
The video shows Shandela Simmons, of Yemassee, being arrested from her vehicle by officers with the Beaufort Police department.
Shortly afterward, her friend, Ar’mireya Johnson, who was filming the arrest was detained and charged with resisting arrest and interfering with the execution of a warrant.
The filmed incident took place on Thursday, Nov. 28 at the intersection of Palmetto and Boundary streets.
On November 30, the Beaufort Police Department released a statement saying that they were aware of the video that had been circulating on social media.
“As part of standard protocol, every incident involving a response to resistance undergoes a multi-step review process to ensure compliance with our standards and policies,” the statement said. “We remain committed to transparency, accountability, and upholding the trust of our community.”
Before this happened, officers had pulled over a vehicle in the same location and arrested the driver for driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest and arrested his passenger for public disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
According to Simmons, the two men who were arrested were her brothers.
Simmons said that she received a call from her brother asking her to come out to the scene to pick up the vehicle they had been driving because they were being arrested.
After arriving at the scene, Simmons said that the car her brother was driving was being loaded onto a tow truck.
Simmons was arrested for allegedly assaulting a “non-officer” at the scene, who was identified by Simmons as the tow truck driver.
The video begins with Simmons being pulled from her vehicle by a Beaufort police officer.
As the woman is arrested by another police officer and a Beaufort County Sheriff deputy, the passenger, Johnson, can be heard asking why they are arresting the woman while she films the incident.
A Beaufort police officer yelled at Johnson to, “Back up, now!”
She responded by saying, “How you gonna tell me to back up?
The officer responded by saying, “Because I just f***ing did.”
Then a separate police officer approached Johnson and told her to stay out of the crime scene before he tells her that he is arresting her for interfering with the arrest.
The video was posted by Simmons to Facebook where it has been shared thousands of times and has garnered hundreds of comments from people claiming that the individuals were treated differently because they were Black and because the passenger was recording the arrest.
According to public records, Simmons, Johnson and one of Simmons’ brothers were all released on personal recognizance bonds on Friday, Nov. 29.
Her other brother was released on Saturday, Nov. 30, also on a personal recognizance bond.
Beaufort Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Edwards was not able to answer questions asked by The Island News before press time on Tuesday, but she told The Island Packet that none of the Beaufort officers have been placed on leave during the internal investigation.
Edwards did say that Chief Stephanie Price was out of the office and was not available for comment immediately.
To watch a the video of a Thanksgiving arrest in the City of Beaufort that has prompted an investigation, follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/100000629603667/videos/633890318968132/
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
