At an LAPD meeting Tuesday, the ashes of a woman who died in police custody were reportedly thrown at chief Charlie Beck by a relative of the woman and a Black Lives Matter activist, leading to misdemeanor charges against the women and a swift end to the meeting.
Sheila Hines-Brim and Melina Abdullah were arrested and later released, NBC News reported. Hines-Brim is the aunt of Wakiesha Wilson, who died in LAPD custody in 2016.
Hines-Brim allegedly shouted, “That’s Wakeisha. She’s going to stay with you,” NBC News said.
Hines-Brim told CBS Los Angeles that her niece told her to throw the ashes. “I heard her clearly tell me,” she said. “I used her ashes so they can be with him so he can feel her, because he murdered her. They covered it up.”
Hazmat and fire crews were called to test the white powder to make sure it wasn’t hazardous. Authorities did determine it was harmless.
Hines-Brim and Abdullah claimed their arrests were fraudulent, The Washington Post reported. Hines-Brim was asked by a reporter how she felt after the ordeal and she said, “I feel satisfied.”
Beck called the women’s actions “disrespectful” and said that they “created chaos and fear” by throwing the ashes, the Post reported.
Wilson was arrested March 26, 2016, when she was accused of assaulting a patient at a Los Angeles hospital. She was found unconscious in her cell the next morning, and a coroner’s report ruled the death a suicide by hanging.
The department reviewed its practices on seeking mental health assistance for inmates and notifying the family about deaths after the incident, the Post reported. Wilson’s mother did not find out about the death until she missed a court hearing. The city paid $300,000 in a wrongful death settlement to Wilson’s relatives in December.
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