The sequence is highly controversial across the Atlantic. On May 22 in Childersburg, Alabama, Michael Jennings, an African-American pastor of the local church Vision of Abundant Life, he was arrested by the local police. Her only fault of him? Watering the flowers of his neighbors who had entrusted him with this thorny mission during his vacations in the mountains of the north of the country.
“racial profiles”
Images of the arrest, filmed by the cameras carried by the police, have been released in recent hours by the US media NPR. We can see two police officers intervening near a house in this residential area. “What are you doing here, man?” One of them asks the man of faith, busy with his task. “I water the flowers,” replies the 56-year-old man, who identifies himself as “Pastor Jennings” who lives across the street.
The situation escalates slightly when the officers ask the pastor to present his identity documents. The latter refuses, replying that he has done nothing wrong and accusing the police of “racial discrimination”.
“You have no right to approach me, I have done nothing wrong. If you want to lock me up, lock me up, I’ll keep watering these flowers,” she continues.
According to New York TimesUnder state law, police officers are authorized to arrest a person in a public place and demand identification if they suspect a felony or other public offense has been committed. For which act, the pastor is handcuffed and taken to the police station, accused of “obstructing government operations.” A charge that will finally be dropped a few days later by Childersburg police, since Alabama law does not prohibit watering flowers.
Filing of complaint
According to the US media, the police actually intervened after a call from a neighbor, concerned about movements in the house. It is about a woman, named Amanda, whom we finally see intervening with the police at the end of this same video. “She’s completely normal, they’re friends,” she finally told police, after she initially claimed to have called the police because she believed she had seen “a teenager” hanging around.
However, Pastor Jennings does not plan to stay there and plans, supported by his lawyer, Me Harry Daniels, to file a complaint for illegal arrest.
“This is a case of police abuse, police intimidation and racial discrimination,” he told the New York Times.
Questioned by the same medium, Kevin Koss, chief of the Childersburg Police Department, declined to comment. Still scarred by his arrest, Pastor Jennings assures him that he is “not against the police.” “We need our police. We just need good police,” he insists.
Source: BFM TV
