Woman arrested after clash with THP during anti-ICE protest

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Cellphone video captured a tense confrontation between anti-ICE protesters and Tennessee State Troopers on Summer Avenue Sunday afternoon.

It ended with one woman detained and another demonstrator claiming he was struck by a patrol vehicle.

The demonstration, called ICE Out for Good, drew more than 100 people and was organized by Indivisible Memphis in response to the deadly shooting of Minnesota mother Renee Good by an ICE agent last week.

In cellphone video recorded during the protest, several Tennessee State Trooper cruisers can be seen pulling up behind demonstrators walking in the roadway. The video shows a woman wearing a colorful hat banging on the rear passenger-side window of a patrol car. Moments later, an officer runs around the vehicle, grabs her and detains her as protesters surround the car and chant, “Let her go.”

According to an arrest affidavit, that woman was 55-year-old Rebecca Ann Leathers. Troopers say protesters were blocking traffic near Summer Avenue and Graham Street and surrounded patrol vehicles as officers attempted to move through the crowd.

The affidavit says Leathers repeatedly struck the patrol vehicle, attempted to open a door and resisted custody. She is facing multiple charges, including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstructing a highway and indecent exposure stemming from an incident investigators say happened later at the jail.

One protester, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said law enforcement escalated the situation without warning.

“Usually in a protest, they give you dispersal orders if they want you to leave or get out of the street,” he said. “They didn’t do that.”

The protester also claims he was hit by a trooper’s vehicle as officers drove through the crowd. He said the patrol car’s push bar struck his legs, causing him to fall chest first onto the hood. He later went to the hospital to get checked out.

“I’m not going to blame the trooper for me necessarily needing to go to the ER,” he said. “But it was completely unacceptable and inappropriate to drive into civilians.”

Across the street, Tom Tongumpun, owner of The Cottage Restaurant, said he witnessed the demonstration while leaving work.

“There were a lot of protesters on both sides of the street,” Tongumpun said. “They were using all kinds of words about dissatisfaction with the government.”

Protest organizers say the march began peaceful and are calling for accountability and an investigation into law enforcement’s actions.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol has not released additional details about the incident.

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