Elaine McAlister was falsely arrested at an airport before departing for Jamaica on a misdemeanor marijuana charge, and she spent the next four nights in jail rather than on vacation before authorities realized they had arrested the wrong Black woman.
McAlister, 31, has filed a lawsuit against the Kansas City Airport police officers who arrested her at Kansas City International Airport in 2023, alleging false arrest, racial discrimination, and harassment.
“Plaintiff believes that the unfair treatment she experienced was discrimination as it relates to her race,” according to the lawsuit filed in Platte County, Missouri, on January 31 by the Holman Schiavone law firm in Kansas City.
“As a result of the discrimination, false arrest, and false imprisonment, Plaintiff has experienced, and continues to experience, significant emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life.”
The defendants in the lawsuit are Kansas City Airport police officers Kyle Greewalt and Matthew Zils, as well as the city of Kansas City, which manages the airport.
McAlister’s arrest is just one of hundreds of cases in which Black people have been arrested for “matching the description” of another Black person.
Police frequently falsely accuse Black people of crimes they did not commit simply by using a similar license plate number. Other times, it only takes a Black person driving a car that vaguely resembles the one they’re looking for.
McAlister’s arrest surprised her close friends, including Erica Danielle Radley, who described her as “one of the most honest, reliable, and, most importantly, law-abiding citizens” on Facebook.
“She is a loving mother to her son and has been a friend to our family for many years. I went to school with my granddaughter and spent many years in our home. In other words, a member of our family. “She’s a nurse with a wonderful mother.”
“She did the right thing; sorry you had to go through this, Elaine. We all know you personally. They know they’ve messed with the wrong woman. “Go get em, girl.”
In the same Facebook post, Caitlyn Monroe stated that McAlister is “really one of the most kind people ever.” It’s disgusting what happened. I hope she wins the entire lawsuit.”
Invalid Warrant
According to the lawsuit, McAlister was the victim of identity theft by another Black woman, who used her identity when she was arrested for marijuana possession in Kansas in August 2023 and then failed to appear in court, resulting in an arrest warrant.
However, the claim accuses the officers of arresting her on an invalid warrant issued in Kansas while they were in Missouri. Only after she was arrested did a Missouri prosecutor obtain a valid Missouri warrant, which is not how it is supposed to work.
The lawsuit also claims that Missouri law prohibits warrantless arrests of fugitives unless they are accused of far more serious crimes, which state law defines as crimes “punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” In other words, felony cases, which did not apply here.
The arresting officers also failed to obtain her fingerprints to determine whether they matched the fingerprints of the actual woman wanted on the marijuana charge, who is not named in the lawsuit.
The arresting officers also had a photo of the actual suspect, which her lawyers claim bore no resemblance to McAlister other than the fact that both were Black women.
“It is obvious to any reasonable person, let alone a law enforcement officer, that the person in the Johnson County, Kansas booking photograph has no similarity to Plaintiff other than also appearing to be a black/African-American female,” according to the complaint.
Furthermore, the actual suspect had multiple tattoos, which McAlister did not have, but the arresting officers chose to ignore these details.
“In addition to having the photograph clearly showing a different person, Defendants Greenwalt and Zils had documents relating to Plaintiff’s imposter (” the pretender “) and multiple tattoos that the imposter had-including tattoos on her chest, right arm, and left leg-that Plaintiff did not have,” the complaint contends.
“This information should have confirmed to Defendants Greenwalt and Zils that Plaintiff was not the person who had been arrested in Johnson County, Kansas, in August 2023 and was not the subject of an arrest warrant.”
The Arrest
The incident occurred on October 14, 2023, when McAlister and a friend arrived at the airport to fly to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
However, before boarding her flight, she was approached by officers Greenwalt and Zils, as well as an unnamed U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer, all of whom requested her identification.
McAlister, not understanding what was going on, gave the officers her driver’s license and passport, at which point she was handcuffed and told she was being arrested on a Kansas warrant for a misdemeanor marijuana charge.
The cops informed her that she had been pulled over and arrested for marijuana possession in Johnson County, Kansas, on August 19, 2023, but had failed to appear in court, resulting in the arrest warrant.
However, McAlister, who lives in Missouri, claimed she had not been arrested in Johnson County that day. She also told the officers that her driver’s license had been stolen, which could explain why it ended up in the hands of another Black woman.
McAlister began crying as her friend attempted to inform the cops that the photos of the two women did not match, but the cops took her to the Platte County Jail.
Four days later, on October 18, 2023, an employee at the jail asked McAlister to show him her tattoos, which did not match the tattoos of the actual suspect, and he was released.
“Defendants Greenwalt and Zils knew or should have known that the arrest of Plaintiff was illegal and that Defendants had no right to arrest, detain, or imprison Plaintiff,” according to the claim.
“As a result of these actions, Plaintiff has experienced emotional distress which has manifested itself in ways including, but not limited to, anxiety, fear, humiliation, degradation, and stress.”
