Woman sues police union for using her son for photo-op—after beating her up

FEE’s Olivia Rondeau’s writes “A second lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Rickia Young, a black mother who last fall, in spite of breaking no laws, was ripped from her car, beaten, and separated from her toddler for a deceptive photo-op used in a propaganda social media post.

Last October, Young was driving home through Philadelphia with her two-year-old son and 16-year-old nephew when she accidentally found herself at a protest against police abuse. Just hours before, Philadelphia police had fatally shot 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr., a black man whose family had called for mental health help. As Young attempted to make a three-point turn to get away from the crowd, she was pulled over by police, who smashed in her vehicle’s windows before pulling her out and assaulting her. Young was ‘violently yanked from the vehicle’ and beaten, ‘causing significant injuries,’ her lawyer, Riley Ross told CBS.

The City of Philadelphia already agreed to pay out for the attack, but now Rickia Young wants the police union that used her son for a misleading photo to take responsibility. https://t.co/WOxFQ9A058

— FEE (@feeonline) November 23, 2021

After the beating, she was handcuffed and forcefully separated from her toddler and teenage nephew. Two days later, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the nation’s largest law enforcement union, posted a picture of her son on Facebook in the arms of a white female officer with the following caption:

‘This child was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness. The only thing this Philadelphia Police Officer cared about in that moment was protecting this child. We are not your enemy. We are the Thin Blue Line. And WE ARE the only thing standing between Order and Anarchy.’

Read the entire column.