© Jennifer Sinco Kelleher / APCourtney Wilson, left, and Taylor Guerrero pose for a photo in Honolulu on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015.
Officer Harrison, being an authoritarian agent of the state, felt it necessary to assert his personal preference over Wilson and Guerrero once they showed each other affection.
According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Harrison, who was shopping in uniform, "observed their consensual romantic contact and, in a loud voice, ordered plaintiffs to stop and 'take it somewhere else.'"
The couple immediately complied with the officer's demands, despite them being unlawful. However, as they continued shopping they began showing their love to each other once more by holding hands in the isle. This was too much for the intolerant officer to handle and he decided to get physical.
During the initial assault by Harrison, Wilson was attempting to dial 9-1-1.
"He was bumping his belly against Courtney," Guerrero said. "He said, 'you girls don't know how to act. You don't know the difference between a motel and a grocery store.'"
At this point, Harrison forced his way in between the two girls and shoved Wilson. In a desperate act of self-defense, Wilson kicked Harrison as she fell back.
"The whole situation got physical," Wilson said. "I got punched in the face by him."
Harrison then asked the store employees to help him arrest these two women whose only "crime" was expressing their consensual affection for each other in public - which is not illegal in any way shape or form.
However, since the officer decided to escalate to violence, the women were charged with felony assault on an officer. According to the AP, they spent three days in jail and each paid a bail bondsman $1,300 for bail that was set at $12,000 each, they said. They had to remain in Honolulu as a condition of their release.
The couple was then forced to stay in Honolulu as a condition of their bail and had to seek out jobs cleaning vacation rentals as not to be homeless.
Weeks later, the charges were finally dropped once the prosecution came to their senses.
Police earlier told The Associated Press that they couldn't comment on pending litigation, then later said they had opened the internal probe. Police department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said she would pass a message seeking comment from Harrison, a 26-year veteran, to his commander. He remains on full active duty.
Comment: Another example of how the police are allowed to make up laws that suit their own twisted authoritarian views of how people should act and enforce them with impunity. It is absolutely reprehensible that this homophobic cop illegally attack this couple and then due their self-defense and subsequent bogus felony charges are forced to stay in Hawaii. This man has used his power to totally upend the lives of two innocent woman. They should sue the pants off the cop and the city and then the officer should be fired and charged with assault.