FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joseph Greenwald & Laake, P.A.
Timothy Maloney; TMaloney@jgllaw.com
Phone: 301-220-2200
JGL Represents Two Black Women Who Were Mistreated by Secret Service Last Week, Calls for Immediate Investigation
GREENBELT, MD. August 3 2020 — — Joseph Greenwald & Laake has called upon the U.S. Secret Service to investigate an incident last Thursday evening, July 30, in which uniformed Secret Service officers deliberately rammed their cruiser into a car near the National Mall in Washington, DC, and then aimed a rifle at two young Black mothers who were in the car.
A letter sent by Joseph Greenwald principal Timothy F. Maloney on August 1 to James M. Murray, director of the Secret Service, asks Murray to explain why a Secret Service agent deliberately rammed the cruiser into the women’s car, why agents pointed a rifle at the women, why they handcuffed the women, and why they separated the women from their crying babies for at least 45 minutes.
No charges were ever filed against the mothers, Yasmeen Winston and India Johnson, who had simply driven down to the Mall together with their infants on a summer evening to see the fountains and were parked legally on Constitution Avenue, near 17th Street NW, across from the White House. Both are represented by Joseph Greenwald & Laake.
The officers did not inform either woman of her rights, the letter says, and the Secret Service searched the trunk of their car without permission and without legal justification.
“Throughout the entire incident, the demeanor of the uniformed Secret Service officers was arrogant, angry and condescending,” Maloney wrote in his letter. “There were, of course, no apologies or explanations from the officers for their behavior. By contrast, a Park Police officer on the scene appeared genuinely concerned for the welfare of the two women and their babies and was very professional.”
Maloney wrote, “Women who take their babies to the Mall need to know that their vehicles will not be rammed by the Secret Service, that they will not have rifles pointed at them and their babies, and that they will not be handcuffed without suspicion of a crime or legal justification, and that their children will not be placed at risk of harm.”
About Joseph Greenwald & Laake
For more than 50 years, Joseph Greenwald & Laake has represented individuals and businesses in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
