LOS ANGELES, July 18 (Xinhua) -- A Video of a female street vendor violently arrested in the Southern Californian city of Perris last month has caused anger and controversy on social media.
When a motorcycle officer arrested the 52-year-old woman, Juanita Mendez-Medrano, she was selling flowers and Hawaiian-style leis without a permit to people attending the Perris High School graduation ceremony on the evening of June 6. The video footage of the conflict between Mendez-Medrano and the officer was later posted on Twitter, triggering online uproar.
According to a Riverside County Sheriff's Department news release on Monday, the video did not capture the officer's efforts to convince Mendez-Medrano to remove her stall. "As with most police events, the short, publicly produced video does not have the full context or content of the incident seen on the video," the statement said.
"During periods of traffic congestion, our officers saw numerous street vendors walking into traffic to sell products to people caught in the congestion. Due to the obvious traffic safety concerns, our officers contacted multiple street vendors who were found to be vending without a permit," said the release.
However, a witness at the scene said that vendors were not creating unsafe conditions by walking into traffic.
"The vendors were off in a corner near Perris High School and in a parking lot for the school -- not in the middle of the street," Jason Hernandez,the witness told KTLA (a television station based in Los Angeles) on Monday.
Unlike other vendors, Mendez-Medrano refused to cooperate as necessary to allow the officer to issue her a citation. She refused to provide her name, and attempted to walk away.
"After giving several fake names, attempting to leave, and pushing the officer away, our officer attempted to arrest Ms. Mendez-Medrano for violating the city ordinance and obstructing justice," the press release stated.
The officer held Mendez-Medrano's arm to prevent her from fleeing and "a very brief physical struggle ensued before she was taken into custody," according to police.
"Why do you do this to us?" Medrano can be heard yelling in Spanish to the officer in the video. "We're living our life."
The cellphone video has prompted controversy on Twitter and other social medias.
"Honestly, watching this puts a hole in my chest. Instead of arresting drug dealers, gangbangers, he's arresting a lady selling flowers," wrote Twitter user Jent.
"Are we claiming excessive force?" asked Twitter user Token Squre.
"I'm saddened by the brutality for the poor woman selling flowers. She should be compensated for her extremely traumatic treatment," wrote Facebook user Felix Cortes.
Other voices supported the police action.
"She should know that the way she's selling flowers is not legal," wrote Twitter user Germz," it's the law and the officers [are] there to make sure people follow the law."
