JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Erika McGriff, the Jacksonville mother whose arrest video went viral outside a Northside charter school, has broken her silence. She appeared alongside two women who were also arrested as bystanders under Florida’s new “HALO” law.

Civil rights lawyers Ben Crump and Harry Daniels organized a press conference on Tuesday, urging the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to dismiss all charges and investigate what they call the use of “excessive force” by the police.

During the heartfelt press event, Erika McGriff’s family described the distressing scene where she was forcibly taken to the ground by officers.

“You cannot imagine the impact on a mother witnessing her child being thrown to the ground, punched, and beaten by a man,” expressed a family member of McGriff.

McGriff, 39, was arrested last week while picking up her 9-year-old daughter outside IDEA Charter School on Jacksonville’s Northside.

“All I was trying to do is get my daughter out of school. That’s all,” said McGriff. “Everything that happened—that was just uncalled for and is not fair.” said McGriff

Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters defends officers’ actions, saying that the officer involved followed policy and that McGriff resisted.

“It’s shocking to me that you square up to fight a police officer… maybe then you’re gonna get a citation and go to jail because it’s a third-degree felony,” said Sheriff T.K Waters.

McGriff faces three felony charges, including battery on a law enforcement officer.

Two bystanders, Jasmine Jefferson and Anito Gibson, were also arrested under HALO law.

“This incident happened on a Tuesday. I was arrested on a Friday afternoon, internal affairs called me wanting a statement—that’s it. They arrested me right on the spot,” said Jefferson.

The women are accused of violating Florida’s HALO law, which creates a 25-foot buffer zone around first responders. Civil rights attorneys say the law is unconstitutional and silences people trying to record or speak out.

“We want good policing. We don’t want you to protect and serve everybody else and assault us. We just want equal justice under the law.”

McGriff’s attorneys say her arrest reflects a pattern of excessive force over minor traffic violations in Jacksonville.

JSO has not announced any new statements since the press conference.