Georgia Cop Harasses Woman for Legally Breast Feeding in Public

A new mother was accosted by a Muskogee Georgia deputy sheriff in a Piggly Wiggly, for breastfeeding her child. Despite being legal in the state of Georgia, the deputy felt the need to ignorantly flex his knowledge of the law. The woman left the store in tears, shaken from the encounter. A thoughtful witness photographed the incident and it soon made its way to social media. Once again, despite the clear violation of the woman’s rights by detaining her, the thin blue line is in full effect, with the Sheriff jumping to his deputy’s defense.

Savvy Shukla is the mother of a newborn child who knew the law in regards to her own body. That’s more than can be said for the unnamed officer who seemed to miss that day at the academy. According to Shukla, the deputy became irate when she told him she knew the law and threatened to arrest her. She posted the incident to Facebook. “Tonight while in Piggly Wiggly with my sister and both my children (the oldest 20mos and the youngest 1month old today) while nursing a Deputy approached me right when I was about to leave and informed that I needed to cover up because someone might find it “offensive,” the post read.

Shukla then proceeded to school the deputy that she can breastfeed anywhere where she is authorized to be. According to Shukla, the deputy proceeded to tell her “You just THINK you know what the law says and if your nipple becomes exposed I really don’t want to have to arrest you or have you arrested for being offensive. This isn’t like the first amendment where you can say something offensive.” The sheer audacity of the deputy to approach, let alone attempt to tell the woman she didn’t know the law, reveals this for what it was. A deputy attempting to impose his ego where it didn’t belong, with a law he didn’t understand highlighted a fundamental problem in law enforcement across the board.

At first, the Muskogee Sheriff John T. Tarr responded on social media, seemingly condemning the deputy for his actions, assuring Shukla that “Our office does not condone these actions and will ensure all officers know and understand the law.” The Sheriff’s post was lengthy. He discussed his own family and children and it seemed that he truly empathized. Well, low and behold, shortly after his first statement, he issued another one. He told the press that the officer had simply asked her to cover up. He defended his officer and ignored the blatant threats to be arrested. “I think she had the mindset that he said that she couldn’t (breastfeed), and that’s so far from the truth. That’s my problem. People put that stuff out there on Facebook without getting all the facts.” It seems the Sheriff missed the point of Shukla’s post in the first place – to show that police harassment is real.

Shukla fought back and responded to the Sheriff’s reversal of position. “I am FURIOUS! No, the Deputy didn’t just tell me to cover and leave it at that. He argued with me about the law and told me I just “THINK” I know the law and THREATENED TO ARREST ME or that I’d be ARRESTED IN THE FUTURE…”

Of course, who are we to think the Sheriff would do the right thing and stand up for liberty? He fell in line with what cops do when other cops break the law…he did nothing.

Sources: The Free Thought Project.

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