A woman’s revealing swimsuit got her detained by Myrtle Beach police Sunday, video shows.
Sam Panda, an aerial acrobat who performs across the world, posted a video to Facebook of her being handcuffed and she fired back at a woman who complained about her clothing.
She and a friend were wearing thong bikinis and one had a “see-through top,” which prompted police to be notified, according to Myrtle Beach Police Department Cpl. Tom Vest. Police informed the women about city ordinances about public nudity, and Panda was put in handcuffs when she tried walking away from the officers.
One of the ordinances, 14-83, states it’s unlawful for a person to intentionally be in public wearing clothing that exposes others to “human male or female genitals, pubic area, pubic hair, buttocks, anus, vulva or any portion of the female breast at or below the areola thereof.”
The other ordinance, 5-30, states it’s against the law to be nude “on any public beach, beach access, in the public waters, any other public property, or in view of the public.” It further says “a state of dress or undress so as to expose to the view of others specified anatomical areas” is unlawful.
Panda argued in the video posted on Facebook that she was not nude, as her private parts were covered. She said she wears similar swimsuits on the beach every day and pointed out others in the vicinity who were wearing suits that resembled hers.
A separate Myrtle Beach law, which Vest said falls under the 14-83 ordinance, states “it is illegal for anyone to wear a thong bathing suit.”
Panda and the other woman agreed to leave the beach and were released without charges, Vest said. Panda was in handcuffs for around 10 minutes.
In a Facebook post calling out the woman who complained about her appearance, Panda said she was “rushed, aggressively grabbed, manhandled and cuffed.”
“You allowed two women to be slut shamed publicly on a beach for their bathing suits,” she wrote. “And worst of all, you showed your daughter that her body is something she should be ashamed of and could be detained for. You showed her that a man can harm a woman over the way her body is viewed by other people. You have objectified a female body that does not belong to you and have showed your daughter that those actions are acceptable. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself.”
