US woman holds black teens at gunpoint
Students were raising funds for school event when woman pointed gun at them
Four black high school students were going door-todoor to raise money for their football team in Wynne, Arkansas, on the morning of August 7. One moment, they were laughing, having been frightened by a dog chasing them that had only wanted to play. The next, they were on the ground in a stranger’s front yard with their hands behind
their backs while a white woman with a handgun ordered them to stay put.
The woman, who lived at the property, had already called her husband, a county jail administrator, who alerted the police.
“Upon arrival of our officers, four juveniles were found lying on the ground with a female adult with a gun standing,” Jackie Clark, the Wynne police chief, said in a statement. “Our officer had the children stand up and they explained they were selling discount cards for a school athletic programme.”
The woman, identified by the authorities as Jerri Kelly, 46, is now facing felony charges of aggravated assault and false imprisonment. She was arrested and released on $10,000 (Dh36,700) bond on Monday, according to the Cross County Sheriff’s Office.
The episode is similar to other recent cases of white people threatening or calling the police on black people for minor or nonexistent transgressions, such as knocking on a door for directions, taking a nap in a Yale common room or asking to use the restroom in a Starbucks without buying anything.
Carl Easley, the superintendent of the Wynne School District, said he had spoken with some of the students’ relatives. “They’re upset that it happened,” he said. “Two of the boys lived within two blocks of where that happened.”
The boys had been selling discount cards at $20 each to raise money for their team at Wynne High School, the Yellowjackets.