Consider this a kind of thought experiment:
You are driving home at night in a nice car, not a luxury car, just a plain standard, clean, relatively new sedan. You have no bumper stickers on your car of any kind, political, religious, humorous or whatever. You have not been drinking or taking illicit substances. You are dressed casually in a collared shirt and slacks. You have driven your car in accordance with all traffic laws, at least as far as you are aware.
A block from your home, a police care pulls in behind you, its lights flashing. You pull over to the side of the road near your residence. The police office asks for your license and registration, which after you open your window several inches, you offer to him.
What happened next?
FYI, this happened to me about two years ago. It also happened to another man last December.
First question: Does the officer accept your license and registration?
In one of the above instances, he did.
In the other, he refuses to accept your license and registration numerous times.
Second question: After you ask the officer why he stopped you, what does he say?
In one of the above instances, he did, claiming you had a busted taillight.
In the other instance he tells you that he stopped you because he wanted to. Later he claims you were driving erratically and even later he claims you didn’t use your turn signals properly. You remember using your turn signals, and tell him so.
Third question: Does the officer demand you get out of your car?
In one of the above instances, he did not.
In the other instance, he demands you exit your vehicle, but gives you no reason why you need to do so for a routine traffic stop. When you tell him that you see no reason to exit your vehicle, he threatens to break it down using (in your opinion) a menacing tone of voice. He sounds angry. You tell him you feel threatened by his behavior and are concerned for your safety if you leave your car in light of his threats.
Fourth question: Does the officer write you a ticket and let you continue home, or does he call for backup?
In one of the instances, he writes you a ticket and advises you that if you fix the taillight within 24 hours and have your mechanic confirm this in writing on the back of the ticket form he provides, the fine will be reduced. You drive home and go to bed.
In the other, the officer, after again threatening to break your window open leaves and calls for backup, and soon other officers appear on the scene.
All right, at this point we are only dealing with the case of the man stopped whose license and registration were not accepted by the police officer who demanded that he exit your vehicle or his window would be broken down.
So, the last question is this one: What happened next?
Well, according to you, after the backup officers arrive and promise that you will not be harmed if you exit your vehicle, you agree to get out. However, while opening you door the police grab your arm, pull you from your car despite your protestations that you are complying, and throw you to the ground, face first (the next day you are treated for cuts and abrasions at a hospital. You are arrested, taken to jail and charged with felony obstruction with violence, later reduced to a charge of misdemeanor obstruction with violence. No charges regarding the initial traffic stop for “erratic driving” or failure to use your turn signals are included in the charges against you.
According to the police report, you charged the officer after exiting your vehicle, requiring him to take you to the ground.
The first case, in which the driver was given a ticket and sent on his way, was mine. The police officer in question was not particularly friendly, but neither did he threaten me in any way. He never insisted I had to leave my car even though I was operating a non-complying motor vehicle which justified his stop. I reside in the Rochester, NY area.
The second case involved a man living in St Petersburg, Florida stopped police this past December.
So, anyone care to guess who was the white guy and who was the black guy?
I imagine you can guess, but here is the YouTube video posted by Curtis Shannon regarding his encounter with the St. Petersburg, FL police:
As you can hear from the audio in that video, Mr. Shannon’s account of what happened to him is consistent with the police treating him in a hostile and violent manner over stopping him for what was, at best, a minor traffic violation. In short, he was dealt with quite differently than the police officer who stopped me under essentially similar circumstances.
For more on Mr. Shannon’s story, please go to this link at The Raw Story.
Mr. Shannon is also asking for financial help in dealing with the continuing prosecution of his case, and has set up a Go Fund Me site here:
LINK to Help my family recover
More details about Mr. Shannon’s account of his beating and arrest by the police can be found there. You can decide for yourself whether or not you wish to donate to his fund.
Full disclosure: I do not know Mr. Shannon and only learned of his story today.
