From [HERE] and [HERE] A Black woman is suing a city, its police department and its officers for false imprisonment and negligence for an incident she said left her traumatized and bruised.

Two civil rights attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit against the Fayetteville Police Department for constitutional violations on behalf of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested in her car on private property.

Video taken by the woman arrested, Ja'Lana Dunlap, from Fayetteville, shows her being yanked out of her vehicle by officers, slammed against her vehicle and being asked for her I.D. The federal lawsuit alleges she was then placed in handcuffs.

Dunlap was arrested and then eventually let go because police did not find that she did anything wrong, according to Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins.

Hawkins said police were looking for a "potentially" dangerous man at the time and in the area where Dunlap was taking photographs in a vacant lot.

Dunlap said she taking pictures of the lot for her employer. She was in her parked car when police approached her, according to her two attorneys, Harry Daniels and Carnell Johnson.

Hawkins made a request to the N.C. Superior Court to release the two officers' body camera footage. In North Carolina, police departments have to petition the court to release their officers' body camera footage.

The lawsuit filed on Tuesday alleges that the two Fayetteville police officers who detained Dunlap — Ryan Haddock and Amanda Bell — did not have enough "reasonable suspicion" to do so.

Johnson and Dunlap had harsh words for law enforcement during Tuesday's press conference, asserting that the officers, who were both white, would not have used violence against Dunlap if she was also white.

"You never know, being African-American, if your life can end by police, even if you didn't do anything wrong," she said.

Dunlap said she hopes by suing the Fayetteville Police Department, she can speak up for others who can't. She knows that violence from police against the Black community is a persistent problem and hopes to usher change into Fayetteville.

“I really just want to speak up for people who can’t speak up for themselves,” said Dunlap-Banks at a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

“I just want to make it clear that you have to speak up for yourself. You have to demand respect. Whether they wear a badge or whether they’re just in regular clothes. And if you’re wearing that badge, if you’re wearing a uniform, then you’re supposed to protect us not harm innocent people.” "You're supposed to protect and serve, not harm innocent people."

On Sept. 6, Dunlap-Banks was in an empty lot taking photos of the grounds for a property management company where she works. She paid for garbage pickup on the property and was taking pictures to show her boss. The video Dunlap took only shows about one minute of the police encounter, and Daniels and Johnson are pushing for more.

The lawsuit says her Fourth Amendment rights were violated when officers "wrongfully and unjustifiably stopped, seized, and arrested [Dunlap] when Bell and Haddock surrounded and interrogated [Dunlap], thereby restricting her movement, and subsequently dragged her out of her vehicle, took her vehicle keys, and her placed in her handcuffs."

Dunlap said her refusal to provide the Fayetteville police officers with her I.D. prompted the officers to be more aggressive in questioning her. According to the federal lawsuit, police took her phone and threw it on the ground, ending her recording.

Under North Carolina law, individuals are not required to identify themselves except under certain circumstances, like a traffic violation, Johnson pointed out.

The federal lawsuit is seeking damages of more than $75,000 for injuries and degradation Dunlap suffered during the arrest.

After being pushed against her vehicle and handcuffed, the lawsuit says Dunlap began to have trouble breathing. She has an underlying condition of sickle-cell anemia, which contributed to her being unable to breathe.

She started breathing irregularly and began vomiting, the lawsuit says, and tried to bend down and vomit.

"Bell and Haddock continued yanking on [Dunlap] for her to stand upright," according to the lawsuit. "[Dunlap] pleaded with and begged officers to let her kneel down to vomit, but they continued to hold her against the vehicle."

"As [Dunlap] was vomiting in pain, officers opened [her] fanny pack without her consent and took out [her] identification card," the lawsuit continues.

Johnson wants the police body camera video to be released to show this incident and shed light on what happened to Dunlap when her phone turned off.

The lawsuit says that Fayetteville Police Sgt. Kempf arrived to the scene and saw Dunlap in pain. When he did, he immediately uncuffed her and spoke with the two officers on the scene. Dunlap was eventually given her keys back and allowed to leave, according to the lawsuit.

Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins, who is also named in the federal lawsuit, said the officers were pursuing a fugitive in the area and wanted to check to see if Dunlap-Banks was involved.

Attorney Harry Daniels said the officers treated Dunlap-Banks aggressively because of her skin color.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, Oct. 25, argues that North Carolina is not a “stop and identify” state, so Dunlap-Banks was not required to show proof of identification and had already given officers her full name.

“She wasn’t required to do that. But she did. That wasn’t good enough,” Daniels said at Tuesday’s press conference. “They wanted identification. You know, some people say where I’m from a long time ago, they wanted to slave papers. You need to show who you are.”

The woman’s attorneys said the violent interaction triggered a sickle-cell crisis. Dunlap-Banks was so afraid for her life that she started hyperventilating and vomiting, it alleges. However, the officers would not give the woman room to vomit and continued “yanking” her upright, the lawsuit says.

A Cumberland County judge on Tuesday granted Hawkins’ request for permission to release body-worn camera footage of the incident. Dunlap-Banks captured one minute of the interaction on her cell phone. Both officers asked the woman multiple times to get out of the vehicle that attorneys said she had just sat back in without starting the ignition. Bell also asked Dunlap-Banks to show her identification card, which was visible in her transparent fanny pack across her waist.

“You’re not getting it because I haven’t did anything wrong,” she told the officers.

The lawsuit alleges that officers tried to pull the woman out of the car because they realized she was recording them. The video also shows that Bell eventually released Dunlap-Banks’ arm, allowing her to get out of the vehicle. Court documents allege the woman was “forcefully placed” in handcuffs and slammed against her vehicle.

The video Dunlap took only shows about one minute of the police encounter, and Daniels and Johnson are pushing for more. According to the federal lawsuit, police took her phone and threw it on the ground, ending her recording.

The lawsuit says the “illegal and prolonged restraint of” the woman in handcuffs “amounted to false imprisonment” under North Carolina law. In addition, officers fail to meet their duty of care, and the city and its police agency are negligent by failing to vet, train and supervise its officers properly.

Dunlap-Banks’ attorney Xavier Torres de Janon said the department has a reputation for police brutality against Black people. Fayetteville police officers shot and killed Jada Johnson on July 1 after she called 911 to report a home invasion. When police arrived on the scene, Johnson had a gun to her head. Police officials said Johnson was shot while they tried to disarm her.

Torres de Janon named Johnson and four other African-Americans harmed during encounters with the police agency.

“This is not an issue of a couple of bad apples because we’re seeing that the tree is rotting. We are seeing that the roots are rotten,” he said. “And so when we demand justice for Ms. Ja’Lana, we demand justice for these other people and for the other Black and brown people in Fayetteville who might suffer when they meet a police again and again and again.”