Yandy Smith reveals ‘inhumane conditions’ during Breonna Taylor protest arrest

On Aug. 25, “Love & Hip Hop” star Yandy Smith tightly squeezed onto fellow celeb advocate Porsha Williams’ hands as officers in riot gear approached them while they protested the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky. “We were sitting right next to each other with locked arms,” she told Page Six. “And we …

On Aug. 25, “Love & Hip Hop” star Yandy Smith tightly squeezed onto fellow celeb advocate Porsha Williams’ hands as officers in riot gear approached them while they protested the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.

“We were sitting right next to each other with locked arms,” she told Page Six. “And we were both so afraid, but so empowered and feeling courageous.”

Smith, 40, Williams, 39, and more than 60 others were part of a peaceful “Day of Action” march organized by the social justice group Until Freedom. The group marched from the Louisville Metro Police Department training facility to the Denny Crum Overpass, where they were finally stopped for obstructing traffic.

Smith said Until Freedom organizers warned protestors to remain non-violent, to not touch officers or scream, but calmly walk toward the bridge.

However, she claims officers “aggressively” pushed some of the men and women back, causing tension among the officers and protestors.

“We knew at that point we were going to be detained,” she said. “But that’s when I’m like, ‘Well, I’m going to stand up.’ I did not know if they were going to start pepper-spraying. If they are going to do anything, they’re not going to do it to me on my back.”

The reality star said police did not warn them that arrests were going to be made or give them an opportunity to walk away.

One by one, each protestor was placed in plastic handcuffs and sat on a curb while they waited in the 98-degree heat for about two hours to be processed, Smith said.

They were then taken to a paddy wagon, where the protestors were to be transported to a nearby prison facility, Smith said.

While inside the van, the “LHHNY” star said men and women were divided into rows, and crammed together closely.

“A lot of us were claustrophobic,” she said, pointing out that some removed their face masks because, “When you’re in that van, it was so incredibly hot you would not be able to survive with your mask on.”

After a 25-minute ride, they arrived at the detention center, where Smith said the protestors were handcuffed to makeshift metal cages outside in the parking lot before undergoing a stringent search process.

Before transferring the protestors to a cell, each person was “processed,” meaning they were asked to remove jewelry, weapons and cell phones.

Smith had two phones — one that was confiscated at first and another hidden in her pants pocket that helped her leak some footage on social media — but she said she turned it in during the search.

“I wanted to document as much as possible what was happening so people could see we are peacefully protesting while the murderers of this young woman are going to work,” she said. “They’re living their lives on vacations, while us that are trying to get justice for her and are not breaking the law are getting arrested.”

Smith said the only COVID-19 screening that took place before entering the facility was that their temperature was taken and they were asked, “Have you been exposed to COVID?”

“Basically, they tell you if you’ve been exposed, you’re going to go to a cell with people with COVID,” she said, adding,  “They make you take off your mask to process you, so you’re talking to these officers — some of them have on masks, many of them did not.”

But Louisville Metro Department of Corrections told Page Six in a statement, “Officers must wear a mask. Everyone booked gets a mask. There is no shortage. Everyone is screened for COVID-19 to include symptom check and a temperature check.”

Smith said women who were menstruating and needed to use the bathroom were forced to use a restroom shared by men and women on the processing floor.

“The amount of humiliation is crazy,” she said. “The bathroom is just completely disgusting, like feces on the toilet. Feces on the floor. You would think there was a puddle of water, but it was urine.”

Once inside the cells, the “LHHNY” star said there was one toilet to be used by everyone being held there, which Smith said was about 40 women at a time.

“They gave us blankets when we checked in,” she said. “We would hold the blanket in the cell for women that had to use the bathroom.”

However, Smith claimed protestors were told there was a recent bed bug outbreak, so some were hesitant to even touch the blankets.

“If we touched it, we could be possibly bringing it back to our home,” she said. “I don’t want to even take the risk of infecting my children because of the inhumane conditions that’s going on there right now.”

Smith said the women tried to remain positive by singing songs to uplift one another.

“We took care of each other,” she said. “We laid on each other’s laps. I initiated a charades game. It was truly a moment of let’s create peace. Let’s create a unified sisterhood that’s going to keep everyone calm.”

LMDC assistant director Steve Durham refuted Smith’s allegations, claiming that “small groups” of detainees are moved into “clean housing” that was “prepared to cohort protestors.”

Photos from inside the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections

Louisville Metro Department of Corrections

Louisville Metro Department of Corrections

Louisville Metro Department of Corrections

Louisville Metro Department of Corrections

Louisville Metro Department of Corrections

“Protesters are not housed with the general inmate population,” he said. “Before entering the housing, the detainee has spoken to medical personnel, picked up their bedding, a sandwich, a juice box and a cup from bins. The housing unit has one toilet and sink and can accommodate up to 30 persons.”

Durham continued, “Protesters see medical personnel who take temperatures, they ask the detainees a series of medical questions, and discuss immediate medical needs. When any person is admitted to custody who have medicine with them, medical staff takes steps to verify the medication is prescribed. That takes time.”

Durham also explained that he “understood” how “some people” felt like “their needs were not met” or that “cleanliness and sanitation needed improvement” during a mass arrest, but said it was “not uncommon” for 25 to 30 people to have to share a single toilet in a housing unit.

“We clean and sanitize with bleach before the housing unit is occupied, but that when the space gets filled, it can get dirty from occupant use,” he concluded. “When we hear those comments about cleanliness, health care, or conditions of confinement, we inspect what those claims and where warranted we work to improve. Turning a concrete and steel housing unit into a comfortable setting won’t happen and like all the housing units in the jail, the detainees have to work with us to help keep their space clean.”

Smith said protestors were finally released around 3 a.m. the next day. Until Freedom and its members waited for each person to be released before heading home.

The reality star said she was charged with two misdemeanors: disorderly conduct and obstruction of traffic.

“If you know me, you know my personality, there’s nothing disorderly about me,” she said. “I am a poised woman, a classy woman at that. I was within my rights.”

Smith and Williams were also previously arrested in July for another protest for Taylor, so the former VH1 star said she has to think twice now before protesting again.

“I don’t want to be arrested, but I do want to continue to fight,” Smith said. “I have a husband that I am in a partnership with as far as raising these children, and he’s very concerned and very worried.”

The mother of two, who shares 8-year-old son Omere and 5-year-old daughter Skylar with husband Mendeecees Harris, is fearful that her arrests may lead to jail time.

“Every single protest march that I go to now, I have to just count the cost and weigh it out,” she said. “I don’t want to prohibit my children from learning. I’m literally a teacher and I have two little ones.”

The entrepreneur wants to make it clear that she did not get arrested for “clout” or to “gain popularity.”

“The reason we get out there, the reason why we use our platform is to amplify the voices of all of these marginalized communities,” she said, adding, “It affected my own family. I’ve been a victim of this system.”

Smith said she had a heartbreaking conversation with her 8-year-old son when she encouraged him to introduce himself to a police officer who patrols their local park.

“He said, ‘No, Mommy!’ He got emotional. Just thinking about it gets me emotional,” she said. “I’m like, ‘What’s wrong?’ He said, ‘They beat people and I don’t want to get beat up.’”

Smith said she explained to her young son that he wouldn’t get in trouble because he hadn’t done anything wrong, but Omere responded, “You said George Floyd didn’t do anything wrong. He was murdered and he was beat up.”

“I said I to myself, ‘Am I talking too much around my children?’ Because when I grew up, we admired police. We went up and said, ‘Can I hold your hat? What’s your badge number?’ Did I expose them too much?”

The reality star said she told Omere that they never speak in absolutes and that not all police officers or politicians are bad.

She concluded, “My dream is that when he is a teenager there will be real law and policy to protect little boys like him.”

Follow us on Google News