Oakland: Black CHP officer sues white cops for racial profiling
Sunday, November 21, 2004 at 02:51AM
TheSpook
A black California Highway Patrol officer says two white police
officers held him and his partner at gunpoint as they served a warrant
at a video store in Pleasant Hill, according to a civil-rights lawsuit
filed in federal court Tuesday. The plainclothes CHP officers
repeatedly pointed to their badges and identification during the
incident last December, but the police ignored them, ordered them to
the ground and removed their guns and other gear, the suit said. When
CHP Officer Sam Morgan, who is African American, asked the police
officers to show some professional courtesy, Pleasant Hill police Cpl.
Steve Dexheimer replied, "This town is lily white ... you guys are two
minorities ... what do you expect us to do?" according to the suit. "I
think this case just shows that racial profiling so infects our society
that even a police officer is at risk," Morgan's attorney, Michael
Haddad of Oakland, said Tuesday. "Even though they had badges hanging
from their necks, an assumption was made that they couldn't possibly be
police officers." [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.