Brooklyn community activist Michael Tucker had an unnecessary scare when he called the mother of his daughter Mia Tuesday, Nov. 17 around noon. He learned that she had been arrested, and he soon found out she was the least at fault for the charges.
Mia Tucker, an 18-year-old student at Concord High School, was held in custody for one day at the Staten Island Criminal Court for fighting a classmate on school premises. However, when Michael Tucker finally went to the school and saw footage of the actual incident, he became infuriated. He says he’s now suing for $1 million for every minute his daughter spent in holding.
According to Tucker, Mia was defending herself from a male classmate. The footage showed that the student grabbed Mia’s backpack in an apparent attempt to get her attention as she used her cellphone. He then grabbed the back of her neck, which prompted her physical response. Tucker didn’t need to see any more of the footage once he saw the boy grab her neck. Concord High School didn’t respond for comment.
“I got really upset and started screaming at the principal because I told him, ‘You told me my daughter was the aggressor, and clearly, if you look at the video, she’s not,’” Tucker said. “In that situation, she had no choice, and she explained to me that the boy was doing that for two periods.”
However, this isn’t what Mia was sent to holding for. Her brother Michael Jr., a college student, regularly picks her up from school to drive for lunch. On that Tuesday, Tucker was told they were pulled over because of “the way they pulled off.” Mia, the passenger, was pulled from the car and accosted by three officers, Tucker told the AmNews. One handcuffed and slammed her to the ground before the other threatened to use a Taser on her. Neither told her why she was being arrested. This went on as a crowd recorded the incident while one of the police officers wrongly claimed she had stabbed a victim.
Mia was the only one arrested, charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Tucker ended up spending his day making an emergency trip to Staten Island, going through a frustrating 40-minute wait at the 40th Precinct only to learn from criminal court that his daughter wouldn’t be released until the following afternoon.
Although Mia is out of holding, Tucker is still stressed about the situation.
“The last couple of days I couldn’t sleep because all I keep thinking about is that it could’ve been a worse situation,” Tucker said. “I’m thinking about Eric Garner. I’m thinking about everybody that lost their life at the hands of a police officer.”
Tucker’s fears also come from a personal place. In 2005, his 21-year-old son Stephonne Crawford was killed when he was shot in the back of the head by a police officer in what was called an “accidental shooting.” The loss inspired him to found the Lay the Guns Down Foundation, a grassroots organization dedicated to teaching communities about the dangers of gun violence.