Kansas City protest over arrest of pregnant Black woman enters seventh day

Protesters upset by social media videos of Kansas City police arresting a pregnant Black woman continued their agitation for the seventh day on Thursday.

The woman arrested is 25-year-old Deja Stallings, who is nine months pregnant. The said footage shows an officer kneeling on the back of the pregnant woman during an arrest after a gathering at a gas station.

The Kansas City Police Department said in a statement that police were called to the location on September 30 at 10:49 pm by a security officer at the gas station and convenience store who said there were "15-20 individuals fighting on the business's property."

A man then physically interfered with the officers' investigation and refused to leave. Officers attempted to arrest him but he tripped.

"At that time, a woman (seen in the video) and man tried to pull the suspect away from officers," the statement said.

The security video shows Stallings briefly step between an officer and the man he was moving to arrest, but the officer quickly pushes past her to chase after the suspect, catching up with him just a few feet later.

Police said one of the officers then tried to arrest Stallings while she was standing, but "she continued to physically resist arrest, at which point he placed her on the ground to effect the arrest."

Their arrests occurred out of view of the security camera video.

The police said that "the officer who arrested the woman stated he took care not to apply pressure with his legs."

Police called an ambulance and said Stallings was evaluated at a hospital and released.

Stallings has been charged with interfering with an arrest.

To this end, protesters plan to remain at City Hall until their demands are met or someone comes to remove them by force. They are demanding the police chief resign and want the officer involved to be fired. They are also calling for the city to redistribute 50 per cent of the department’s budget to social services to help the Black community, according to The Associated Press.

Stallings now reportedly has "nerve issues with her back" as well as a large bruise. She went to the hospital twice, once immediately after her arrest, but the baby appears to be uninjured by the incident.