Family in dire need
Donation protected
Today my family went to Walmart to purchase groceries so that we would have food in the house to eat, and get a few things that we needed but were unable to afford. New toothbrushes and some toothpaste for our two year old, as well as a pack of diapers for our 6 month old.
We were stopped outside of the store by an unidentified woman, a Walmart employee in casual dress, who walked up and lifted my child’s car seat to retrieve a pack of forgotten headbands that had slipped under her seat. We were immediately surrounded by Walmart staff who intimidated us into going into the LP office.
We gave the two dollar headbands back after offering to pay for them, as well as the pack of diapers. They proceeded to call law enforcement. Two employees barred the door and as we were waiting, our two year old daughter covered her face with her hands and sobbed — the unidentified LP woman smirked at her and feigned innocence when we asked her to stop, making rude faces and talking to us as if we were dumb.
When the two officers arrived, they demanded my spouse take off his coat and then one officer pinned his hands behind his back, “searched him for weapons” (he was not concealing anything in his skinny jeans and tight shirt), and called him a SNOWFLAKE for protesting being pinned against the wall.
The entire process took over an hour — it was an hour of being mocked and treated like animals for being too poor to afford rent, let alone necessities for our family. It was agonizing.
About ten minutes into the police interrogation my six month old daughter, who has been fighting a viral infection since Friday began to cry for me out of pain and hunger. The officers refused to allow me to even stand with my daughter, who they placed alone with her big sister on the opposite side of the room, to comfort her. As her cries grew more demanding the LP woman began to speak rudely to us again, apparently inconvenienced by my ill child. One officer smirked and told us that she was fine, further refusing me from any contact with her. When I told him she was hungry and I needed to breastfeed her he spoke to me as if feeding my hungry daughter was disgusting and offensive.
We pleaded for forgiveness and swore never to return. Explained countless times our poor situations, begged for advice on what to do. They all jeered at us, the one officer in particular went out of his way every chance her could get to jab us with figurative spears of cruel words, including mocking me for my disabilities. We both received citations ranging from 326 to 369 for theft of less than 100 dollars.
We are currently unable to even make our rent or electric bill due to my inability to work and/or afford child care, let alone pay for citations which will turn into warrants after 30 days. We are terrified of losing our children — they are our world and we both simply wanted them to have what they needed. This is why we are reaching out in hopes that someone, anyone will see the injustice and oppression of the poor, and perhaps help us.
At this point, it comes down to paying the citations and losing our home, or ignoring them and losing our home and kids over warrants and jail time.
Thank you, bless you.
We were stopped outside of the store by an unidentified woman, a Walmart employee in casual dress, who walked up and lifted my child’s car seat to retrieve a pack of forgotten headbands that had slipped under her seat. We were immediately surrounded by Walmart staff who intimidated us into going into the LP office.
We gave the two dollar headbands back after offering to pay for them, as well as the pack of diapers. They proceeded to call law enforcement. Two employees barred the door and as we were waiting, our two year old daughter covered her face with her hands and sobbed — the unidentified LP woman smirked at her and feigned innocence when we asked her to stop, making rude faces and talking to us as if we were dumb.
When the two officers arrived, they demanded my spouse take off his coat and then one officer pinned his hands behind his back, “searched him for weapons” (he was not concealing anything in his skinny jeans and tight shirt), and called him a SNOWFLAKE for protesting being pinned against the wall.
The entire process took over an hour — it was an hour of being mocked and treated like animals for being too poor to afford rent, let alone necessities for our family. It was agonizing.
About ten minutes into the police interrogation my six month old daughter, who has been fighting a viral infection since Friday began to cry for me out of pain and hunger. The officers refused to allow me to even stand with my daughter, who they placed alone with her big sister on the opposite side of the room, to comfort her. As her cries grew more demanding the LP woman began to speak rudely to us again, apparently inconvenienced by my ill child. One officer smirked and told us that she was fine, further refusing me from any contact with her. When I told him she was hungry and I needed to breastfeed her he spoke to me as if feeding my hungry daughter was disgusting and offensive.
We pleaded for forgiveness and swore never to return. Explained countless times our poor situations, begged for advice on what to do. They all jeered at us, the one officer in particular went out of his way every chance her could get to jab us with figurative spears of cruel words, including mocking me for my disabilities. We both received citations ranging from 326 to 369 for theft of less than 100 dollars.
We are currently unable to even make our rent or electric bill due to my inability to work and/or afford child care, let alone pay for citations which will turn into warrants after 30 days. We are terrified of losing our children — they are our world and we both simply wanted them to have what they needed. This is why we are reaching out in hopes that someone, anyone will see the injustice and oppression of the poor, and perhaps help us.
At this point, it comes down to paying the citations and losing our home, or ignoring them and losing our home and kids over warrants and jail time.
Thank you, bless you.
Organiser
Kylo James
Organiser
Arlington, TX
