An awkward Florida traffic stop has exploded across social media after a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy was captured on camera accusing a woman of manipulating a cellphone with a hand she does not have. The incident involved 36-year-old Kathleen Thomas, an adaptive athlete and prominent social media influencer. Thomas, who was born without the lower portion of her right arm, was pulled over under suspicion of distracted driving.
In the official bodycam footage, the deputy can be heard declaring, "You drove past me, holding the phone with your right hand, manipulating that phone."
Thomas immediately questioned the logic of the accusation, raising her limb to point out the clear physical contradiction. "You said my right hand," Thomas noted.
The deputy briefly backtracked, replying, "With the right hand, perhaps not," but awkwardly continued with the traffic stop anyway. At one point during the exchange, the deputy asked Thomas, "Hand to God?" to verify if she had been texting. Thomas responded by holding up her right arm, saying "Hand to God," prompting the deputy to ask her to raise her other hand instead.
The interaction quickly turned into a viral sensation, racking up over 77 million views on Instagram alone after being shared online. Appalled viewers flooded comment sections to criticize the deputy's handling of the situation and question why a citation was written despite the obvious error.