Last week, 87-year-old grandmother Martha Al-Bishara was using a knife to cut dandelions in the woods near her rural Georgia home, which also happens to be near a Boys and Girls Club, when an employee called the police, concerned about the old woman with a knife.
Upon their arrival, two Chatsworth officers along with Police Chief Josh Etheridge repeatedly asked Al-Bishara to drop the knife. Etheridge said he took a knife from his pocket, showed it to Al-Bishara, and “threw my knife down on the ground, trying to make her understand what we wanted her to do.”1 But she didn’t understand and started to walk toward the group. She then didn’t react when one of the officers turned on his Taser. And so, when she was “approximately five yards away, still holding the knife in her hand, the officer fired his Taser and struck her in the chest, according to police. Officers then helped her to her feet, and placed her in handcuffs.”2
(I understand that the police need to protect themselves and I want them to but the police report says that throughout the entire encounter that the grandmother’s demeanor was calm. Why did they need to taser her then?)
Al-Bishara was arrested for criminal trespass and obstruction of a police officer. Her court appearance is scheduled for September 19.