Vanae Wright, 17, and her friend Leilani Green were eating at a Whataburger restaurant in San Antonio on Friday when sheriff's deputies arrested them because of what the lawyer for one of the teens is calling racial profiling, according to the Huffington Post.
Deputies were responding to reports of a fight in the Whataburger parking lot. When some people in the parking lot ran into the restaurant, the officers followed.
"When the kids ran in—I guess the police didn't know who was who, and instead of them finding out, they just automatically attempted to clear the whole restaurant," said Vaughn Wright, Vanae's father.
Video footage shows Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy Cynthia Hernandez throwing Vanae's food on the floor and placing her in handcuffs, as well as Leilani trying to put Vanae's hat on her head before being apprehended by a second officer.
.@VoteCalvert .@BexarCoSheriff how long before Officer Hernandez kills someone? Fire her! #StandWithVanaeAndLeilani pic.twitter.com/CeqrdKRxJ1
— Mr. It Is Our Duty (@Mr_ItIsOurDuty) September 6, 2016
According to the Huffington Post, sheriff's office spokesman James Keith said that there is no evidence that an unlawful arrest or racial profiling took place.
However, Daryl Washington, the lawyer for the Wright family, said, "They were clearly treated that way—it's pretty obvious—because of their race. There was no reason to treat two paying customers in that manner. They were not violating any law."
According to Vaughn Wright, Officer Hernandez told the Wrights that they must have raised their daughter to be disrespectful.
"Naturally, we're concerned anytime an allegation of unprofessionalism is presented against one of our employees," Keith said. "We are working with Whataburger to obtain surveillance footage to help better understand what happened."
Read more at the Huffington Post.