A pregnant Black woman in Texas felt unjustly treated by the local authorities after receiving a ticket for walking on the wrong side of the road.
According to KDFM, Akia Townes was walking down Madison Boulevard to find her dog on April 9. While searching, two policemen driving down the street stopped her two houses from her residence. They pulled over when they saw her. They approached her and informed her that she was committing a “traffic violation” and would receive a ticket.
“Two cops stopped me,” Akia said in an interview with KDFM. “They walked out with their hands on their guns, and then they asked me to see my ID.”
@independent Texas police ticketed a pregnant Black woman for allegedly walking on the wrong side of the road while she was looking for her dog in an incident she calls “an excessive force of power,” according to reports. Akia Townes was trying to retrieve her dog just two houses down from where she lives, walking on the right side of Madison Boulevard in Groves on Wednesday when police approached her. Click the link in bio for more 🔗
♬ original sound – Independent
‘An excessive force of power’
This came as a shock to Akia because she had witnessed countless people walking on the side of the road all the time.
In the background, Akia’s husband Brad Townes, who is white, can be heard repeatedly saying, “Can’t walk while being Black in Groves” before asking for the badge numbers of both law officials.
The Texas Transportation Code states pedestrians must walk on the left side of the street to face oncoming traffic when there are no sidewalks. officers to call for backup, per KDFM. Since Akia raised her voice, the police called for backup. Four officers were present, as Groves PD explained that two officers were in-field training.
“It’s just very an excessive force of power for me just trying to go and find my dog,” Akia said.
She added, “You could have easily said ‘Hey ma’am,’ and I could have explained to you what I was trying to do, but then you threatened my husband and threatened me to go to jail.”
Groves Police Department shuts down racial profiling allegations
Groves City Marshal Chris Robin is speaking out, saying the department has zero tolerance for racism and insists that public safety is the top priority.
“We’ve seen so many different minor ordinance violations turn into something tragic, and we don’t want that to occur. We want to be able to make a difference in making our community safer,” Robin said.
In response to backlash, the Groves Police Department shared data showing that since January 2023, eight people have been arrested for the same pedestrian violation. Of those, five were white, two were Asian and one was Black. Officials say they release an annual racial profiling report as part of their commitment to transparency.
Akia’s civil rights attorney, Langston Adams, told KFDM and Fox 4 News that he’s been in contact with the couple involved in the incident and is digging into the details surrounding the stop and the citation they received
Groves City Marshal Chris Robin stated that the department does not tolerate racism and emphasized safety as the primary goal.
“It’s not a question of whether she was breaking the law,” Adams said. “We believe it’s selective enforcement and racial profiling. Why didn’t the husband get a ticket? He was also walking on the wrong side of the road and he’s white. I believe they used her walking on the wrong side of the road as a pretext to stop her.”
