A white Texas police officer was accused of “throwing” a black quadruple amputee from her wheelchair and “dumping” her on the sidewalk during a protest. However, a video from a different angle surfaced, giving accusers an entirely different view of what happened.
Over a decade ago, Whitney Mitchell had both her arms and legs amputated after complications from a mysterious infection shut down blood flow to her limbs. However, that didn’t stop her from becoming an activist against what she feels is the real source of oppression in her life.
While attending an anti-police protest in Austin, officers headed in to disperse demonstrators when the crowd became unruly. As protesters ignored the order to move out of the street and onto the sidewalk, multiple officers began forcibly moving resistant individuals to the designated area. Since Mitchell is bound to a wheelchair, an officer proceeded to slowly push her over to the sidewalk. It was then that all hell broke loose.
As the officer wheeled Mitchell to the curb, the quadruple amputee fell from her chair and onto the street. A short video of the incident was quickly uploaded to Twitter with the accusation that the white police officer had not only “dumped” Mitchell out of her wheelchair but had also done so due to racism.
“You’re throwing her out of her chair!” protesters repeatedly shout at the officer.
“This is what the police do: abuse disabled black women,” one woman yells.
“F—ing racist!” another says to the officer.
The video captures the officer wheeling Mitchell away from the crowd but misses the moment she falls from her chair, allowing viewers with an anti-police bias to accuse the officer of committing an act of brutality. However, a video from another angle captured the unadulterated truth, revealing a vastly different narrative than the initial one.
After seeing the unobstructed view of Whitney Mitchell and the police officer, viewers immediately realized that there wasn’t any weight to the accusation that he had “dumped” or “thrown” her from her wheelchair. In fact, it appears as though Mitchell purposefully slid out of her chair, possibly to create a narrative that she was a victim of police brutality.
“Am I the only one who see them calmly and safely pushing her wheelchar whilst she flails about aggressively? Theyre removing protestors from the road, she’s 1 of them. A wheelchair isn’t a magical ‘dont touch me’ cheat code. They treated her eqaully to all the able bodied protestors,” one user wrote.
The second video captures Mitchell flailing and wriggling her way out of her chair and onto the ground as the officer slowly and steadily pushes her toward the curb. Viewers pointed out that the officer never tilted the wheelchair forward or jarred her in any way that would cause her to fall or slide off.
“She’s wiggling all over, though. She just slid off her chair from gesticulating around. Unless I’m missing something, I didn’t see him turning over her wheelchair or brutalizing her in any way. He was just pushing her wheelchair to the sidewalk….” another replied.
“Dumped her violently???? He didn’t tilt the chair at all. She wiggled herself out so she could claim he did it. Anyone with eyes can see that,” another wrote.
After Mitchell worms her way out of her seat, protesters swarm to help her back into her chair, prompting the officer to step back in order to de-escalate the situation. Mitchell appears to be uninjured as demonstrators place her back into the chair.
The first video, which shows a conveniently obstructed view of the incident, is being circulated by activists who wish to bolster anti-police sentiments. Unsurprisingly, the second video, which exposes an unadulterated and far less outrageous reality, was ignored for the sake of the cause.
Of course, the context behind the incident leaves many questions to be answered. For example, if the police pose such an inherent threat toward innocent black people, why would a particularly vulnerable black woman attend an event where there would be an abnormally concentrated police presence? Even more so, why would her so-called “allies” even support her going into the lion’s den?
If they truly believe black people are systemically hunted down by police officers, they wouldn’t have wheeled her into the eye of the storm. Mitchell is undeniably a victim, but not of police brutality. She is a victim of a narrative that is based on lies and ignores uncomfortable statistics. Disturbingly, she is happy to be used by the anti-police activists as a perpetual victim.
