On Feb 17, the parents were driving to a funeral in Chicago when Highway Patrol officers in rural Coffee County, Tennessee, pulled them over. Apparently, they had “dark tint[ed windows] and traveling in the left lane while not actively passing,” according to Vice NEWS citing the Lookout, a nonprofit news organization that broke the story. After being pulled over, police reportedly found a blunt and a small amount of cannabis in a bag. It totaled to less than five grams of weed, the news site notes. As a result of the officer’s alleged findings, police charged Williams with a misdemeanor and arrested him, and gave Clayborne a citation.
However, six hours later, Clayborne—who was not arrested—reportedly had her five children taken from her and placed into state custody. Their youngest child is a four-month-old boy who is still breastfeeding while the other children range in age from 2 to 7 years old. “When I went to go reach him, the man grabbed me, he said, ‘Don’t touch him,’” Clayborne said to Fox 59, remembering the moments her children were taken out of her custody. “My oldest child, he looked at me all confused and I just gave him a hug and told him, ‘It’s not your fault,’” So why did that happen? Well, Clayborne explained to the outlet that the state Department of Children’s Services sought and obtained an emergency order from a judge. In court documents obtained by the Lookout, the state reportedly accused the family of putting their kids in danger.
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The Department of Children’s Services told VICE News in a statement, “DCS and law enforcement follow protocol for collecting evidence,” a spokesperson told the outlet in an email. “Those findings are then presented to the court. In this instance, the evidence resulted in the court placing children in DCS custody.”
Meanwhile, Clayborne’s attorneys said they don’t believe this would’ve escalated in the same way if his clients looked different or were from different backgrounds. Democratic state Sen. London Lamar also said in a press conference last Thursday that the justice system was “absolutely out of line for taking [the] children over a misdemeanor charge.”
“It is absolutely ridiculous when marijuana is legal in about half the states in the country, and a Black family got five of their children taken away, put into DCS that is not doing a good job taking care of the children they already have,” Lamar said Thursday. “And they won’t give them their children back for a misdemeanor charge.”
Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) also added, “It is outrageous that the state forcefully separated Bianca Clayborne, a breastfeeding mother, and Deonte Williams from their kids and have allowed this to continue for nearly a month. The state exercised extreme and flawed judgment in taking their children and it seems they’ve doubled down on this poor decision,”
Clayborne’s attorneys believe the DCS has retaliated against them for releasing certain legal documents to the public. However, DCS has not responded to those claims.
Per Fox59, the Coffee County District Attorney followed up with a statement saying there is more to the story than Clayborne and her attorneys are releasing to the publBlack Family Stopped for Tinted Windows And Kids Taken In Georgiaic.
“Certainly, there are more facts and circumstances that exist that the defendants have chosen not to disclose during their efforts to try this matter in the court of public opinion and the realm of politics. My office will only try this matter in the criminal court of law,” said District Attorney Craig Northcott.
Now, Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) reportedly claim there was a weapon in the vehicle in possession of a convicted felon… but no evidence of those charges being filed has even been released to the public…
While, lawyers and officials continue to go back-and-forth, Clayborne says she ultimately feels like she is grieving.
“It’s like death,” she said. “Losing someone you can cope with because they are not with you any longer, but having children out in the world [and] you physically can’t see or touch [them], is mind-boggling.”
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