Earl Sampson has been stopped and questioned by Miami Gardens police 258 times in 4 years, on average more than once a week. He has been arrested 62 times for trespassing: at the store he WORKS AT!
The store's owner, Alex Saleh, had enough of the racial profiling of his employees and customers. He installed 15 surveillance cameras--not to protect his store from criminals (he has never been robbed) but because of the cops' non-stop harassment of Sampson and others. The Miami Herald has a series of clips from these videos that show how blatant they are. You'll see Earl Sampson just taking out the garbage, and as soon as he gets back in the store, he is pulled out forcibly by the cop and arrested.
Even though the store owner is there and repeatedly tells the cops he is an employee, they arrest him anyway.
I said, 'I'm the owner, let him go. I work here.' The officer said, 'Yeah right.'
Most of us have never been stopped and searched by police, let alone hundreds of times. Miami Gardens Police Chief Matthew Boyd needs to be fired. There is no way he didn't know about this. The cops need to be fired and sued. I am glad the store owner and his attorneys are filing a civil suit. Being a former cop myself, this type of behavior fills me with rage. They are harassing the very people they need to be protecting.
The store owner is a brave man for standing up for the rights of his customers and employees. According to the Huffington Post, he has been repeatedly threatened and harassed by the Miami Gardens PD since this story broke. I know there are some in my state who would disagree with me, but the fact of the matter is being a minority is not a crime. Even if you are from Florida.
12:58 PM PT: Local News Report:
6:38 PM PT: The police chief will be stepping down
Law Enforcement Officers are baffled at why people have negative opinions of them.
ReplyDeleteI find this really sad. What the heck is wrong with people, especially white people, in Florida? And I ask this as a white person in California.
ReplyDeleteNot all white people in Florida are racists. I live here, and I am often baffled by the attitudes of people I encounter. Keep in mind, however, a large part of Florida's population is comprised of those who have retired here from other states. They are older and more afraid that someone is going to take what they have away from them. They also vote negatively in order to elect idiots into office who have promised them no tax increases, and Florida's education system suffers as a result.
DeleteWelcome to the south...
DeleteHope this doesn't negatively influence "White Appreciation Day" festivities.
DeleteI clicked on your link at the top when I noticed this post is one of many about florida. I stopped reading because I got so mad. Thanks for letting me know. I won't be visiting anytime soon....
ReplyDeleteFlorida republicans will do that to you
Deletethe double standards make you angry.
ReplyDeletei'm a californian with a retired assistant police chief father and retired officer brother in law. i was raised to respect law enforcement. i lived in florida 25 years and lost all respect for the law. i was arrested TWICE for charges later dropped for lack of evidence (there was none because THERE WAS NONE) and i was pulled over, put in back of the cruiser while they ransacked my car only to find NOTHING, then told my tag light was out. i asked an officer to see my neighbor home who was too drunk to drive... the next morning i saw my neighbor's car in a ditch. i could go on but that's life in florida. beautiful beaches, palm trees, disney and dirty cops. i know they're not ALL bad, but there are enough to make one really stop and wonder.
ReplyDeleteDisgusting pigs. Fuck 'em all.
ReplyDelete