Last Thursday, two Black women, India Johnson, 26, and Yasmine Winston, 25, took their babies to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. to cool off in the fountain. The best friends were parked near the White House and on their way to the National Mall when a marked Secret Service cruiser crashed into their front left bumper.
The babies, who were six and thirteen months old, cried from the impact of the crash as armed uniformed Secret Service officers surrounded the car and demanded that the women step out of their vehicle. The officers, who were not wearing masks, handcuffed the women and separated them from their infants for an hour.
According to police, the reason they stopped the two women was because the vehicle they were in had been reported stolen even though the suspects were two Black men.
Now, Johnson and Winston are demanding answers and an investigation into the incident that made them fear not only for themselves, but the safety of their children.
The women assured the officers that no men were present. Additionally, Johnson provided legal documentation showing that the vehicle was hers and that she had never reported it as stolen.
The pair was eventually released but received no explanations or apology for the encounter. They were not read their Miranda Rights and the car was searched without Johnson’s permission.
“I could have been another Breonna Taylor,” Winston told the Washington Post. “I could have been another innocent woman who has no record and got shot.”
Congresswoman Eleanor Holton and Johnson and Winston’s attorney, Tim Maloney, sent letters to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolfe and Secret Service Director James Murray demanding answers.
Holton requested an explanation within the next five days for why the crash occurred; why the officers failed to read the women their rights or wear masks; if there was probable cause for their detainment; why the officers held the women and babies at gunpoint; and if the Secret Service would provide dashboard and body camera footage from the incident.
Maloney’s letter addressed similar concerns.
“These were two young African American mothers with their babies sitting lawfully in a car with D.C. tags,” Maloney said. “Can the Secret Service honestly say it would have treated white out-of-town tourists and their babies, sitting there without District tags, the same way?”
