ALPHARETTA, Ga. -- The 65-year-old grandmother whose violent arrest after a routine traffic stop has already caused one police officer to resign says she only wants justice in her case.
Justice, that is, with a capital "J," Rose Campbell said.
"I come from a world that, when I was a teenager, we feared getting pulled over and getting a ticket because Mom and Dad would have to pay for it," Campbell said in a Friday news conference with her attorney and several state lawmakers. "That fear in my soul has gone ballistic because now, I can't trust a blue light anymore.
"It's just damaged me and left something in my soul I'll never forget. No one should have to live like that."
Campbell was arrested after being pulled over on May 4, a traffic stop which escalated from a run-of-the-mill traffic stop to an incident that ended with several officers trying to restrain Campbell, who suffers from diabetes and hypertension.
One of the responding officers, James Legg, resigned Friday morning after the Alpharetta police department posted a 17-minute video of the arrest on social media.
According to the incident report, Campbell was pulled over after an alleged lane-change violation and repeatedly refused to sign her citation, though Alpharetta police say she was required to under Georgia law. Signing the ticket is not an admission of guilt, according to police, but only serves as a signature bond.
Campbell then asked for a supervisor to come to the scene, while the first responding officer called for backup. Several officers then arrived, including Legg, who used profanity and force to remove Campbell from her vehicle.
Mutepe Akemon, Campbell's attorney, said his client appeared before a magistrate 24 hours after the arrest and pled guilty to disorderly conduct. The charge of improper lane change was dropped in exchange for her guilty plea.
"We have worked hard to establish parity in this country," Campbell said. "Why has all of this suddenly gone dark? It should not be that way."
Campbell said she doesn't want to interfere with police procedures or protocol; "I just want it to be handled correctly as to the measure of the law," she said.
Campbell's supporters want more than just one officer's resignation. State Rep. Erica Thomas (D-Austell) said Legg needs to be sent to prison "for what he did to Mama Campbell.
"We are calling for the officers who are responsible for this to be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law," said Thomas, who said Campbell is a driver for Lyft and had a passenger in her car at the time of the arrest.
Campbell did not address her refusal to sign the ticket or her refusal to obey officers' commands for her to exit the vehicle.
"I'm a Christian woman, and we're supposed to offer forgiveness to walk on the path to peace," Campbell said. "There was only one person who followed that path and that was Martin Luther King. He taught us the path of justice is traveled by peace."
