Anyone not living under a rock has heard the horror stories from minorities, particularly African-Americans, who have been stopped, frisked, and harassed by law enforcement simply for walking while black or brown, driving while black or brown, or even just standing and existing in public while black or brown. This happened to Talladega, Alabama’s Corey Dickerson.
Dickerson was out for a jog at around 12:30 AM when he stopped to get his breath. As he was doing so, an officer pulled up and began to question him, asking him what he was doing out, and where he was going.
Initially the officer would not identify himself. Being the intelligent man that he is, Dickerson informed the cop that he was staying right in front of the car, so that the dashcam would record the whole thing. He was also recording the incident on his cell phone, which automatically uploads video in case the cops were to confiscate the phone.
The cop, later identified as Officer Price, shot back at Dickerson.
“Look, my camera does the same thing, and you can tell them why I stopped you. It is 12:30 in the morning, I’ve had a lot of burglaries and thefts. You can get this on camera, so now I’m just asking you for your ID.”
Alabama’s “stop and identify” law unfortunately is a great tool for racist cops to use to harass innocent citizens of color. The law reads:
“[Law enforcement can] “stop any person abroad in a public place whom he reasonably suspects is committing, has committed or is about to commit a felony or other public offense and may demand of him his name, address and an explanation of his actions.”
Again, Dickerson knows his rights. The cops cannot detain him if they have no reason to suspect him of a crime. He asks, over and over, which crime he is suspected of committing. After that, a second officer arrives and they give Dickerson even more of a runaround, but anyone can see this is just racist police harassment.
But, thanks to Dickerson knowing his rights, he was free to go after the harassing encounter, and later contacted his sister.
Watch the video below:
[Raw Story] Featured image via YouTube
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