Have you heard the story about the Black Amazon delivery driver? No, it’s not the start of a joke.
Current Events
While Donald Trump was busy lauding police at The White House and downplaying the narrative that African-Americans are law enforcement targets, Black men were continuing to receive unnecessary harassment and aggressive force from those who’ve been sworn to protect and serve.
Such is the case of a Black Amazon delivery driver in Warren, MI who was accosted by police while making a delivery.
The unidentified Black man had just left a package in the hands of an Amazon shopper and was heading back to his delivery truck when he was tackled to the ground by a police officer. In fact, he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by the White officer, who called for backup and was joined by a sea of cops within moments.
So, what exactly did the Black Amazon delivery driver do that warranted he be facedown on the ground and in handcuffs while on the job? He parked his delivery truck on the wrong side of the street.
Yes, what should have been nothing more than a mere parking ticket turned into a physical confrontation between a White police officer and an African-American young man.
“There was an outrageous and unacceptable physical altercation with a Warren police officer involving a young African American delivery man for Amazon to a Warren home today. I have spoken with Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer and have ordered that this officer be terminated immediately,” Mayor Jim Fouts said after seeing video proof of the confrontation.
“I have zero tolerance for this disgusting act against an innocent person. If the last two weeks have brought up anything, it is that bad behavior by ANY police officer will not be tolerated. And I’m calling on the Macomb County Prosecutor to look into this situation to see if either charges should be brought against this individual and the U.S. attorney if this was a civil rights violation.
“The policy of the warren police department and the training provided to every officer is to deescalate every situation,” he concluded. “This officer did not follow policy or his training and is not fit to serve the citizens in Warren. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”
We can now add “Working While Black” to the list of crimes in America. Is there any wonder why people are still marching in the streets from coast to coast?
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I hadn’t heard about this story. Clearly that cop’s response was an overreaction (as too often is the case these days). And yes, “racism” is probably the root cause.
But I looked up the story to get a little more information and according to the cop, he had asked the young man for his driver’s license several times and the young man failed to produce it. That’s when the situation began to escalate which led to him being charged with “resisting and obstructing a police officer, failure to obey a lawful command, and failure to produce a driver’s license.”
IF indeed that is what really happened (the entire incident is reported to have been recorded on the cop’s dashcam) then that will put a different light on the case.
The whole matter is being investigated and that’s absolutely the right call.