NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) — Workers Unite held a Protest in Northampton on Saturday morning, after an incident of alleged police brutality against a 60-year-old woman during a traffic stop back in April. There was a barrage of chants from protesters at Northampton City Hall, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, NPD has got to go.”
Residents came from all over the city to rally against alleged police brutality and call for the termination of the officers involved. This comes after Northampton Police pulled over 60-year-old Marisol Driouech for a broken headlight, threw her on the ground to get her out of the car, and then pepper sprayed her.
According to Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper, Marisol Driouech traveled about a quarter of a mile before pulling over and then refused to show her license and registration. The camera footage also shows that the woman had the police baton in her hand.
“Just that amount of brutality against an elderly woman like that. It’s terrible to see brutality in any event, but to see that it could have been my aunt, my other, or anybody like that it just fills me with anger,” expressed Workers Party Local Executive Member, John Rivera.
Driouech’s attorney says she sought medical attention after the incident and that English is not her first language, so she was having trouble processing the officer’s words as he was yelling at her. Chief Kasper said the officer should have made sure that she was understanding what he was requesting.
Kaolin from Massachusetts says there need to be more laws to protect the community, “there is a lot of work to do here to foster racial equality here in this country and all of its legal– it all has to do with laws– so anything that’s a violation of some of these laws is because that law has never been enacted, to begin with– it needs to be a radical change.”
The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office says all criminal charges against Driouech were dismissed, but she was fined for the motor vehicle violation.
Kiara Smith is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since March 2023. Follow Kiara on X @KiaraBSmith1 and view her bio to see more of her work.
