Tanika Inlaw, Former Yonkers NAACP President Demands Answers After Black Female Candidate Detained in Handcuffs Following Restroom Altercation
YONKERS, NY — The former president of the Yonkers NAACP is demanding answers from the Yonkers Police Department, becoming the first Black community leader to speak out publicly about the detention of County Legislator candidate Kisha D. Skipper, the only person taken into custody following Wednesday night’s altercation at a candidates forum in Yonkers.
Tanika Inlaw-Chambers, who previously led the Yonkers branch — the same branch Skipper now serves as president — issued a written statement Friday to Black Westchester calling Skipper’s treatment “outrageous” and questioning why she was the only person detained.
According to the Yonkers Police Department, officers responded to the Beczak Environmental Education Center at approximately 8:25 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, after a dispute between two women inside a restroom during a candidate forum. Police say a third woman, Donna Nolan — the mother of Skipper’s opponent, incumbent Legislator James Nolan — intervened and sustained an abrasion to her lip. Skipper was detained, transported to the Detective Division, and released without charges pending further investigation. Police say the investigation remains active and that it has not been determined to be politically motivated.
Skipper, a Democrat, has said she was followed into the restroom and acted to protect herself. Nolan, a Republican, has said Skipper attacked his mother. Early voting in the race begins Saturday, October 24, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, November 3.
Inlaw-Chambers, a former New York State Senate candidate, says she is not prejudging the investigation — but insists the same standards of fairness must apply to everyone. Her full statement follows:
OUTRAGED, DISTURBED, AND DEMANDING ANSWERS!
As the former President of the Yonkers NAACP, I am absolutely outraged by the treatment of Kisha D. Skipper, a Black woman, community leader, and candidate for public office.
Since when does a woman lose her right to dignity, privacy, and personal safety simply because she is running for public office?
According to eyewitness accounts, Kisha was confronted and then followed into one of the most private spaces a human being can enter a bathroom! A place where any woman should have the reasonable expectation of privacy and personal security.
Let that sink in.
A Black woman is followed into a restroom, and reports being assaulted. Yet somehow, SHE is the one escorted away in handcuffs and detained by police!
Where is the outrage? Where is the accountability? And where is the equal treatment under the law?
I want to know why Kisha Skipper was the only person detained. What evidence justified that decision? Were the accounts of all parties given equal consideration? And what role, if any, did racial bias play in the response?
These are not unreasonable questions. These are questions that demand answers.
As someone who has spent decades fighting for civil rights, equality, and justice, I refuse to remain silent when a Black woman seeking public office is subjected to treatment that raises such serious concerns.
We cannot continue to tell Black women to lead, to serve, to stand up for their communities, and then remain silent when their own dignity and rights are called into question.
The Yonkers Police Department owes the public a thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation. The fact that Kisha Skipper was released without charges makes it even more important that the circumstances surrounding her detention be fully explained.
Let me be clear: I am not prejudging the outcome of the investigation. I am demanding that the same standards of fairness, dignity, and justice apply to EVERYONE.
Being a Black woman in America should never mean having to fight twice as hard to be treated fairly, especially when you are the one asking for protection.
I am watching. Our community is watching. And we deserve answers.
When something ain’t right. SPEAK UP!
Tanika Inlaw-Chambers
Former President, Yonkers NAACP
Former New York State Senate Candidate
Educator | Social Advocate | Civil Rights Activist
