Apparently Being A Black Man With A Heartbeat Is A Crime... I Had To Call Al Sharpton Today... This Is Effin Ridiculous!

Last night I was coming home from the gym as I normally do two to three nights a week. I stopped by the supermarket like I always do. I was walking down the street with my cell phone in my hand when I noticed this police officer looking at me strangely. He came toward me and put his hand on my chest. Then suddenly he said:

"Get on the fuckin' ground! Get on the fuckin' ground!"

I'm looking at him in total shock, wondering what in the hell is going on and just knowing that this has to be some sort of nightmare. I could not believe that this was happening to me. As I'm laying on the asphalt in the middle of the street I hear the officer saying with such arrogance and confidence:

"This is the one. This is the one we're looking for. He fits the description."

I'm laying on the ground like I'm paralyzed not wanting to move an inch for fear that I might be shot. Then he handcuffs me, yells for me to get up off the ground and throws me against a wall. As he's holding my back against the wall with one arm, calling for back up to come and revel in his accomplishment. He says:

"Yeah, I knew he was the one. His heart was beating a hundred miles and hour."

'Yeah maybe that's because I just came from the gym, you asshole!' I thought to myself with my face against the wall. As the lights from the squad car shined in my face, partially blinding me. I took deep breaths and remained calm, finding solace in my innocence and impending vindication. Even with my being innocent I knew this cop was crazy, cops are crazy and I this crazy cop for some reason was real sure I was the person he was looking for. I did not know how far things were going to go before I'm proven innocent but my goal was to walk away from this incident unscathed because so many innocent black men in this situation haven't. Squinting my eyes I tried my hardest to see the number of his squad car through the light. I know I would need it to eventually report him. I'll be damned if he's not gonna pay for this. He kept on going saying:

"Yeah, he was trying to pretend like he was talking on his cell phone but I knew it was him."

'What a fucking idiot! He's gon' look like such a jackass when he finds out I'm innocent.' I thought. As he sent another officer to rifle through my gym bag for firearms. I heard someone over the walkie-talkie system say that the assailant they were looking for was wearing a green jacket. I was wearing a black leather jacket. How green magically turns into black I don't know. I guess it's the same way Amadou Diallo's wallet magically turned into a gun. Either way I was not trying to find out.

More police units come and the officer employs another officer to hold me up to the wall which is so unnecessary as I'm not resisting at all. As they are readying me for the squad car a female officer walks over to me. I proceed to calmly tell her my name and ask her to take my wallet out of my right pocket to check my identification as Lieutenant Ludicrous never bothered to do so. I'm sorry to say it but women are so much smarter that men. So as Lieutenant Ludicrous continues to boast, mentally clearing a place on his mantle for his commendation, homegirl takes my wallet and runs my ID like she got some damn sense, doing what the fuck he was supposed to do in the first place.

Lo and behold a few minutes later.

"He's innocent, we've got the wrong guy."
She says.

No shit, Sherlock! The officer looks at me with a dumb ass look on his face talkin' about "I'm sorry." You damn right you sorry. As the officers looked at him like the fuckin' dickhead he was, calling half the damn city for some bullshit that his pig ass coulda fuckin' checked six years ago while the real criminal runs free, I told his dumb ass off in the most eloquent way possible.

"I cannot believe this! This is absolutely ridiculous! I have never committed a crime a day in my life! I am a hardworking tax paying US citizen and you treat me like a common criminal!"

"Do you want my badge number?"
He asked, with his foot lodged in his mouth, sounding like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Yes! Give me your badge number! This is not the last you will hear of this!"

I exclaimed. He gave me a pen and I took his badge number as all the other pigs scrambled back to their cars. I wrote that badge number down and kept his fuckin' pen too! Now don't get me wrong. I'm a law abiding citizen who has never committed a crime a day in his life and under normal circumstances has no problems with the police. It's just that this particular police officer was so pompous and arrogant and so sure of himself that he let it get in the way of following the proper procedure and possibly let a real criminal go free. And he made me lie on the dirty ass ground! Oh hayell no! His ass is gon' pay for that!

I went home that night not sure exactly what to do. Thankfully enough didn't happen to make a federal case of anything. I was just glad to be safe. I was really tight though that they had me out there wasting my damn time 'bout to have my groceries spoil over some fraudulent ass bullshit! I was tryna hurry home and get to bed because I knew I had work early this morning and here goes this shit!

Afterwards I called the only two people I can really depend on in times of trouble, my mama and Mr. Man. My mama said that I should call Al Sharpton because even though I not hurt (thank God) and this obviously wasn't gonna be a federal case or nothing, at least they would know better than anybody else how to file and with whom to file a formal complaint. That's true. A lot of people hate on Al Sharpton and Al ain't perfect but if some injustice happens to you he's the only one that gonna really have your back. He's proven that time and time again. His office coincidentally is right down the street from my house.

I called Al Sharpton's people at his Nation Action Network today. The receptionist answered the phone I told her that I wanted to report a police brutality incident and she was on it. She asked me what state was I from. I told her that I was from right here in Harlem and she transferred me to someone right away. I told the gentleman my story and even though it wasn't national headline news he referred me to a civil rights lawyer that they work with. The receptionist at the lawyer's office answered the phone and told me that the lawyer wasn't there. I told her my story and she texted the lawyer my number and he called me back within five minutes. I talked to the lawyer on the phone he told me that he didn't think I had much of a case. I told him that I knew that and that I just wanted to know the best way to file a complaint. He told me that I would need to speak with the New York City Civilian Complains Review Board and if I really felt like I wanted to take things to the next level that I could get the opinion of another attorney. I'm really not tryna be running in and out of court, it's not that serious. I just want want something to go on Lieutenant Ludicrous' record so if he ever tries this again that he gets into some kind of trouble. So even though it sounds like bureaucratic bullshit I'm gonna do my part as a citizen and file my complaint with the New York City Civilian Complains Review Board. It probably won't do much but we'll see. One person can make a difference. If enough people start filing complaints against the Lieutenant Ludicrous' of the world maybe some of these fools will start getting fired. 

And black men, if you ever run into NYPD Officer Rotte (badge number 31049) make sure your heart isn't beating so you won't get arrested.

LINKS:
- Al Sharpton's Nation Action Network
- New York City Civilian Complains Review Board

Robert Jones Jr. of the This Is The Diaspora blog and his boyfriend had a similar experience with the police on Sunday in Brooklyn. The NYPD is getting out of hand. Read his story here.

==========
Playing In The Background...
"Fuck Tha Police"
by NWA
from the album "Straight Outta Compton"
==========