Teenage Occupy Seattle protester 'suffered miscarriage after police pepper spray attack'
Police have launched an internal investigation after a 19-year-old woman claims she suffered a miscarriage after being pepper-sprayed at an Occupy Seattle protest.
Jennifer M. Fox says police kicked her and hit her in the stomach with a bicycle at the encampment on November 15 and also doused her with pepper spray.
She says she was three months pregnant at the time.
Crying out: Jennifer Fox was rushed to the hospital after being kicked in the stomach and sprayed with pepper spray by police in Seattle
'I was standing in the middle of the crowd when the police started moving in,' Ms Fox has said.
‘I was screaming, “I am pregnant, I am pregnant. Let me through. I am trying to get out,”’ she continued.
After being kicked and sprayed, she was rushed to the hospital by ambulance where she said an ultrasound confirmed that her baby had not been affected.
But she began cramping and went back to the hospital five days later, and she said she was then told by doctors that there was no heartbeat for the baby.
Investigation: Police have come under fire throughout the country due to seemingly excessive use of pepper spray on Occupy protesters
Indiscriminate: Police sprayed Dorli Rainey, 84, in Seattle as well
None of her claims have been verified by medical records because she is denying reporters access, but Ms Fox said that the doctor cited the kicks to her stomach and ingestion of pepper spray as the causes for the miscarriage.
Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson says the department is looking into the situation because of the seriousness of the allegations.
‘It hurts. It’s upsetting. I was ready to have a kid, because my family was going to support me in taking care of the child. Her name was going to be Miracle,’ Ms Fox has said.
Cyclists: Ms Fox said that a police officer kicked her in the stomach and threw a bike at her, which she believes prompted her to miscarry
The Seattle Times reports that Fox's family doubts her story.
Her former foster mother, Lark Stebbins, says Fox has a history of exaggerating and never mentioned she was pregnant when they spoke recently.
Blog reports say that Ms Fox is living full time in the Occupy encampment and is allegedly homeless.
Popular cause: Occupy Seattle has a number of students participating from the University of Washington, shown here with groups of union workers
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