Follow is a brief
review by Robert Gehrke of an incident that actually took place on July 26, even though the video
was just released yesterday. It has upset me immensely. It’s
everyone’s fear, being brutally arrested for nothing. Gehrke wasn’t kidding
when he said the video was hard to watch. The incident has made International
news like the BBC; it was on the National News last night as well as all local
stations. The video that Devin posted by Trending World so far has had nearly 15
million hits.
Alex Wubbels is
a champion ski racer and competed in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics.
But it’s hard to
imagine she has ever seen things go downhill faster than they did when
Detective Jeff Payne roughed her up and arrested her for simply doing her job.
The body camera
footage of Wubbels’ arrest has made national headlines and drawn condemnation
from around the country, with the social media world demanding Payne be fired
from the Salt Lake City police force.
One thing is
certain: Wubbels earned a gold medal for moxie.
She not only
knew her job as a nurse, but she also knew the law and stood up for her patient
in the face of a bully with a badge who was trying to conduct a patently
unconstitutional blood draw of an unconscious crash victim.
Video of the incident
is hard to watch as Wubbels, with her supervisor on the phone, calmly tries to
explain to Payne that the hospital policy — which happens to reflect a series
of clear rulings by state and federal courts — does not allow her to draw blood
from an unconscious individual.
She stood her
ground and for her trouble ended up getting her arms wrenched behind her back,
handcuffed and dragged to a patrol car while she pleaded with Payne to stop.
“Help! Help!
Somebody help me!” she pleaded. “Stop! Stop! I did nothing wrong!”
Two University
of Utah police officers stood by and did nothing to intervene or try to defuse
the situation.
In essence:
Wubbels was right; the police were wrong
according to the law. I’m more concerned about treating everyone with the
dignity and respect each person is entitled to.
As shocking and
upsetting as this incident is, I wonder why any woman in any church would be
totally surprised. While we may not be physically abused, spiritually and
emotionally we sometimes have our arms wrenched behind our back, are handcuffed
and dragged out while pleading for someone to help. No one ever does. Only
platitudes and blame back on the victim.
In some ways,
maybe what I thought would make me happy would not have made me happy. Maybe
having my arms wrenched behind my back and handcuffed, made me see more clearly
and set me free.
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