How an innocent Minnesota woman ended up shackled in labor
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In January 2020, police raided a pregnant woman’s home after wrongly suspecting her husband of working with a “small-town shoplifter” and dealing in stolen goods.
When plainclothes officers arrived at the couple’s home, Faris Hussein and his wife, Sara, mistook the officers for intruders. Hussein fired warning shots and yelled for Sara to call 911.
The encounter led to Sara’s arrest. The 26-year-old woman, who was 9-months pregnant at the time, was taken to the Hennepin County Jail and then went into labor. Records obtained by KARE-11 show she was shackled and taken to the hospital. This practice — shackling people in labor — was outlawed in Minnesota in 2014.
Brandon Stahl, one of the reporters who broke the story, joined host Cathy Wurzer on Minnesota Now to discuss the story and KARE’s reporting.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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