video Anderson Cooper: Heather Ellis..ruthless Walmart line jumper, or ...

Heather Ellis elected to kick one officer's shin, and split the lip of another while resisting arrest in a vicious manner. In many areas larger than Kennett with it's 11,000 people, police take precautions which ensure they are not injured, at the inconvenience and indignity of the arrestee, this wasn't the case in Kennett. Dunklin County Prosecutor Stephen Sokoloff claims that absolutely no evidence can be found for police mistreatment or racism aside from Heather's own testimony. I would tend to believe this, having seen people treated much more roughly who didn't attempt to do bodily injury to police. Never the less, the New York based "Your Black World Coalition is organizing a rally Monday in Kennett, to launch her trial Wednesday on charges of assaulting police officers, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace. Apparently cutting in line is simply bad manners, dangerous, and against store policy.

This is now a "she said, they said" case. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle. As seen in this video, police delivered the despicable Klan card to the family doorstep of Ms Ellis. The family view the action as a threat by the police department. A spokesman for police said that a trail of the cards had been found, and they wanted to warn, not threaten the victim. Perhaps he made a bad choice. Police claim there is no Klan activity in the area, and that it was probably the work of a lone nut, it is easy to see why it would unnerve the family of Ms Ellis. However, this is just one instance in which one act is viewed in two very different ways.

"What a shame the system can destroy a young person's future like this because of bad cops," Ellis wrote to the NAACP in April. Ms Ellis is now a Missus, married to a state trooper, has moved, finished college, and teaches in an elementary school. The video announced her intentions to attend medical school. Her life seems to be fairly well on track from this observer's perspective. This observer being the first to cry foul when racism or police brutality...often referred to as standard operating procedure by the bad apples, is employed.

Too often sides are taken before the facts are revealed. Rather than an airing of facts, we have two sides, each of which interpret statements and incidents in diametrically opposed ways...the truth often is between the two and unexposed. We hope the truth will out. If racism was involved then it will be exposed to the light of day and justice. If Heather Ellis is doing all people of good conscience a great disservice by crying racism, then this too needs an airing and a halt. There are far too many instances of true racism, violence, and bigotry to use 'that card' as an excuse for anything less. To do so is to further victimize the people who have suffered at the hands of the hateful in this country.

Finally, I believe we've all learned a valuable lesson, you don't have a good excuse to cut in line at Walmart, no matter who you are, or what the circumstance, cousin or no cousin in the fast lane. Heather Ellis details, protest rally planned.