Ben Crump and Cherrie Moore
Source: WBTV 3 / Screenshot

Earlier this week, a now-former Shelby, North Carolina, police officer was charged with misdemeanor assault after he was fired for repeatedly punching a Black woman, who reportedly suffers from mental health issues. Well, now, famed civil attorney Ben Crump is on the case, and he’s vowing to push for additional charges against the ex-officer, whose violent arrest of 34-year-old Cherrie Moore was captured by a nearby doorbell camera.

According to WCNC Charlotte, Crump traveled to Shelby on Tuesday and formally announced that he and his legal team will represent Moore at City of God Family Worship Center, where a packed crowd gathered in support of Moore and her family.

“When police have interactions with brothers and sisters having mental health crises, unfortunately, they don’t look at it as a mental health crisis,” Crump said to his audience. “They look at it as a criminal issue, and far too often, the sister and brother end up dead. So we have to deal with this now. Because if not, the circumstances could be far more critical.”

Crump also spoke about how the single misdemeanor assault charge filed against 22-year-old Karson Hyder falls way short of what anyone who cares about justice would consider to be accountability for an egregious act of police violence.

“You know what full justice is for Cherrie Moore? It’s the same thing that justice would be for the state’s attorney’s daughter if she was brutalized,” Crump said. “We want equal justice. Everything that the constitution allows. We want criminal culpability. We want civil accountability. We want policies that say this won’t happen to another Black woman.”

According to WBTV 3, Crump said he wanted to see Hyder held accountable “for each punch” and said his team was seeking to have the charge against him upgraded. Meanwhile, Hyder was arraigned Tuesday in Cleveland County Court, where he waived his right to a public defender and told the judge he had his own attorney. Hyder is due back in court on July 29.

Moore’s father, Gregory Moore, also spoke at the church on Tuesday, accusing the Shelby Police Department of ignoring the family, despite public outrage, and failing to acknowledge what happened to his daughter with even a simple phone call.

“They haven’t reached out to me none, whatsoever. No calls, nothing,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for them to call. Nothing, nothing. ‘Mr. Moore how are you doing, is everything alright?’ They haven’t called or nothing, and I think that’s very sad.”

Crump also spoke about Moore’s mental health condition and the circumstances around her arrest in a press release, saying she “called for help during a mental health crisis, but instead of receiving compassion and care, she was met with violence.”

“A mental health crisis should not include a broken nose, a busted lip and black eyes,” he said Tuesday. “People don’t choose to have mental health issues. Mental health challenges are not a choice. But how we respond to them is a choice. And we see how he responded is the wrong choice.”

Exactly.

SEE ALSO:

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