BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A Black Baton Rouge woman accused of calling a white arresting officer racist, in addition to other racially motivated comments, has been charged with a hate crime, among other counts.
Crystal Harris, 43, of Baton Rouge, was arrested Sunday, Aug. 4. She was charged with hate crimes, illegal use of 911 emergency communication system, resisting a police officer with force or violence, public intimidation and retaliation, false communication with the intent to cause an emergency response and misrepresentation during booking.
Louisiana law defines a hate crime as choosing a victim based on actual or perceived "race, age, gender, religion, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or ancestry" or "membership or service in, or employment with, an organization, or because of actual or perceived employment as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel."
Charges listed among hate crime offenses target people or property and include violent crimes, property crimes, contamination of water supplies, extortion, terrorizing, menacing and mingling of harmful substances.
Baton Rouge Police were dispatched to the 1100 block of Spanish Town Road around 6:30 a.m.
Dispatchers reportedly alerted the officer that Harris "had consistently been calling in on 911 demanding an officer come out stating that she would keep calling until one arrived on scene," according to the affidavit. They told the officer that Harris was "very aggressive towards them during the calls." The calls are recorded.
The same officer had brought Harris to this location on an earlier occasion. Harris was reportedly trying to get her belongings from an apartment complex. According to the affidavit, the officer had previously told Harris "to call the constable's office to set a time to recover her belongings if she was not able to do so today."
On Sunday, the officer found Harris outside the complex and told her no one would help her break into the locked unit. They said she had previously been given guidance on how to handle this appropriately.
Harris was arrested at the scene on charges of misusing 911 and intimidating dispatchers. She was put into a BRPD unit and taken to the first district.
On the way, Harris reportedly "made multiple comments about the officer being white and that was the reason for her arrest," according to the affidavit. They included calling the officer a "racist a** mother******," and a "union ni**a boy." She also reportedly said her arrest "wasn't proper protocol."
Harris let the officer know she would not get out of the vehicle and, at first, did not do so.
During transport, she reportedly dared the officer "to put hands on her" and, once at the booking site, did not let herself be shackled and led into the holding area.
BRPD said the officer had to guide Harris to the holding area. She reportedly refused to be fingerprinted multiple times, according to the affidavit.
The Baton Rouge woman was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Sunday, Aug. 4.
