SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — The Sacramento National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) joined several Sacramento and Solano County leaders for a rally on the steps of the California State Capitol to demand an independent investigation of the Solano County Sheriff’s Office handling of the Nakia Porter case.
A federal lawsuit filed by Porter and her father on Aug. 18 alleges they were assaulted and taken into custody by Solano County Sheriff’s deputies without probable cause.
"Shaking...my body just shaking from what just happened to me. That shouldn't happen to anyone," said Nakia Porter.
Porter says she is still haunted by this experience. Edited video from the family's attorney of the Solano County Sheriff's body cam video begins by showing an SUV pulling off the road near Dixon in August of last year.
33-year-old Nakia Porter exited the vehicle from the driver's side. The software engineer says she wanted to switch driving duties with her father, J.B. Powell.
The family was returning to Orangevale from a museum trip to Oakland along with her three- and four-year-old daughters and a 6-year-old niece when things took a dramatic turn.
A sheriff's vehicle was parked nearby, and the two deputies approached Porter.
After she motioned and communicated what she was doing, video shows the deputies, with at least one gun drawn, hand cuff her anyway and tell her the reason for detaining her. Deputies told her that she had two different license plates on the vehicle.
Her attorney says Porter became unconscious for over five minutes and dragged to the patrol car by the deputy.
"I hadn't been able to talk to my oldest daughter about what happened for over a year," Porter said. "I just asked her. Do you remember what happened? And she said, 'Mommy, I was so scared.'"
A federal lawsuit claims deputies lied about Porter fighting and about the time she was unconscious to paramedics on scene.
The Sacramento NAACP is now joining the effort to raise awareness about the case.
"We are calling this the new Mississippi. Black people, if you have to stop for anything late at night or early in the morning or during the day and you are approached by Solano County deputies, you need to be aware," Betty Williams, Sacramento NAACP.
The sheriff's office says that as the driver was being detained, she resisted the deputies, slipped her right hand out of her handcuffs, and struck a deputy in the face. Porter was jailed for six hours on suspicion of resisting arrest but never charged.
Full body camera video of the incident from the sheriff's office is available HERE.
WATCH ALSO: