Posted on 03/08/2013 11:28:15 AM PST by nickcarraway
Miami-Dade Transit says county rules prohibit anyone to do so without permit
An 82-year-old woman was forcibly removed from a Miami-Dade Metrorail train for singing during her ride.
Emma Anderson was sitting in a seat on the train and singing a spiritual hymn when a private security guard approached.
Quick Clicks Sun Life bill survives tough fight FOIA request filed about woman removed from Metrorail Cows found roaming golf course 3 Homestead officers to be fired Jungle Island does Harlem Shake The guard, hired by the transit system, first told the woman she was being disruptive.
"I was beating my little beads with the bottle and I was singing a song, and he came up to me and said, 'Ma'am, you're making too much noise,'" Anderson told Local 10's Terrell Forney.
A passenger recorded the exchange on his cell phone. On the video, you can see the security guard grab Anderson's bag. She clings tightly onto her bag and is ultimately pulled from her seat.
"He said, 'You gotta get off this train,'" said Anderson.
The confrontation turned dramatic as the security guard is heard telling Anderson to leave.
"He snatched so hard until I fell. I fell backwards," said Anderson.
Several witnesses said they were shocked by what they saw: an elderly woman knocked to the ground. One of the witnesses demanded the name of the security guard.
"When I look at them snatching my 82-year-old mother up off that Metrorail, it's disgusting to me", said Donald Anderson, Emma's son.
Karla Damian, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade Transit released a statement about the Feb. 20 incident.
"Miami-Dade Transit has a responsibility to all its passengers to provide a safe and comfortable travel experience. The elderly passenger, Ms. Anderson, who was escorted from a Metrorail train, was initially asked by a security guard to refrain from singing loudly and playing an instrument while on the train.
She refused to comply. County rules associated with transit use prohibit anyone from singing, dancing or playing a musical instrument unless a commercial permit is issued by MDT. Further, Ms. Anderson’s singing was causing a disturbance to other passengers and impeding important train announcements from being heard.
We regret that Ms. Anderson had to eventually be escorted out, but regardless of age, all passengers need to abide by the rules associated with using transit."
View: Metrorail Passenger Rules
The Anderson family took Emma to a doctor to be checked out and came home with X-rays, in which they believe prove the incident left the grandmother with possible shoulder and hip fractures.
"They should've had another way of removing her out instead of dragging her off," said Donald Anderson.
The Andersons have filed a police report over the matter and have since hired an attorney.
Is it just me, or is modern journalism hard to interpret?
“Escorted out”??? The poor woman was dragged out and hit the platform floor.
I hope her son ‘escorts’ her to a lawyer’s office. When will hired security stop thinking they can manhandle people?
Red flag, here. X-rays "prove" "possible" fractures? A poke and "Does this hurt?" identifies "possible" fractures. The point of x-rays is a yes or no.
You can’t laugh in Nanny Bloomer’s New Yawk and now you can’t sing in Floriduh. What’s this country coming to?
“....I was beating my little beads with the bottle ...”
LOL...gotta try that one....
FL CONSTITUTIONSo then, by what right does the transit authority presume to prohibit this?
ARTICLE 1, SECTION 3. Religious freedom.—
There shall be no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting or penalizing the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace or safety. No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.
You are going to get so droned for posting that.
Hey, I thought that sentence was above average purple monkey elephant.
I’m thinking I might memorize that.
Repeat it over and over again. Aloud.
While riding the MetroRail.
Obviously mass transit rules are in conflict with the free exercise clause of the Constitution.
Thank the hippies for this one, they likely had to implement the policy to keep the freak show under control, and this grandma was the unintended consequence.
The rules appear to prohibit singing or playing of an instrument without a permit. No mention of religion that I can see. What if she were singing the Internationale or some rap tune?
Reasonable restriction for those riding on public transportation. As to the manner of her being escorted, that’s another issue worth examining, but the Article 1 claim is bogus.
Perhaps the Metrorail officials do not want anyone singing or making excessive noise on the train and that is a good rule as she or anyone else singing on a train would annoy the other passengers.
And her singing of a Christian hymn is not relevant in this case.
“Obviously mass transit rules are in conflict with the free exercise clause of the Constitution.”
Not at all.
Lady - get to the BACK of the bus - if you want to sing Christmas carols...
If grandma was beating beads with a bottle, most likely she was part of the Florida freak show.
Singing to myself is a vice of mine. Do it without thinking. Picked up the habit while hiking or walking a couple of miles to work decades ago.
Often it is something like Gospel Ship, or I’ll Fly Away. A lot of old Country...some newer stuff like The Black Keys...Trouble Weighs A Ton.
Had a rude awakening years ago though. It was a warm Fall day, I was working in the yard cleaning up, splitting wood and singing Pour Me Another Tequila Shelia Then Take Off That Red Satin Dress.
I hadn’t noticed a nun and her elderly mother were sitting outside next door.
MRS P6 MADE ME AWARE....VERY AWARE...!
What is sad is that everyone in that car should have stood up and started singing with her... Throw us all off the train - If you can. That would have been a Chik-Fil-A moment.
What passes as American these days leaves much to be desired.
If that had been a group of homies yelling at each other with obscenities (like they so often do), that “security guard” wouldn’t have said or done a thing. She was just an easy target for some cop wannabe.
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