Black Reverend Accuses South Burlington Police of Racial Profiling
Saturday, April 9, 2005 at 02:24PM
TheSpook
Reverend Rico Diamond met the press
purposely wearing one hundred dollar bills to underscore his claim that
he was the innocent victim of police racial profiling. "A classic
example of racial profiling," says Rev. Rico Diamond of Burlington, "We
are going to call for the suspension of Officer Jack O'Connor and that
we are going to ask for an internal investigation." Diamond says
O'Connor and another South Burlington officer showed up at his room at
a South Burlington hotel last week. Police claim they got a call
complaining of suspicious activity. He says they left only after they
seized more than five-thousand dollars cash he had been carrying to pay
for Easter activities at his church. Diamond produced the paperwork he
says proves the cash was legally obtained. Diamond says he is certain
that Officer Jack O'Connor targeted him only because he is a black man.
"And if I so desire to carry cash on me I will carry cash. And just as
I told officer O'Connor I do not think he would have treated me that
way if the pigmentation of my skin was different," says Diamond. South
Burlington police said they were responding to a report of suspicious
activity, but refused to elaborate. "There were no drugs found in the
room, but, again, I'm not going to comment anymore on the
investigation," said South Burlington Police Chief Lealand Graha[more] and [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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