It's a sad world that we live in where politicians fight to prevent people from having universal healthcare and try at every turn to do away with people's food stamps that they rely on to feed themselves- going so far as to author bills designed to make welfare recipients take a drug test to receive their benefits, yet when you turn on your news you see a Republican politician get charged with cocaine possession.
Why shouldn't our elected officials have to pass a drug test when it comes to serving the people? You can't make this stuff up if you tried. It's eerily similar to a B-Movie with a shitty plot. People thought minorities in Los Angeles were lying about police abuse and brutality until video surfaced showing Rodney King getting his ass handed to him with billy clubs. Ever since Rodney King let the genie out of the bottle surrounding the true nature of police corruption, the relationships between those expected to serve has gotten out of hand- granted that a few bad apples make the whole system seem rotten. Racial Profiling is not a new phenomena.
Pre-Rodney King it just didn't have a name. From Amadu Diallo, Sean Bell and to Trayvon Martin- what we're witnessing is an evil with no end in sight- emboldened with authority as an excuse to pretty much do as they please. Earl Sampson is just the latest poster-boy in this dangerous practice of Racial Profiling. As in the Rodney King situation, it would be hard to believe the same man could be stopped 258 times, be arrested in 56 of those confrontations, yet only be charged with a simple marijuana possession- were it not for a concerned store owner that decided to set up surveillance to remedy the problem once and for all.
258 stops, 100 searches and 56 arrests for trespassing at the Quik Stop is the plight of Earl Sampson. But it gets better- Earl actually works at the store!
Sampson told CBS4's Lauren Pastrana, "They're always stopping me, going in my pockets, asking me for my ID, and running my name. The same cops stop me two or three times every day. I feel like I can't even be in my own neighborhood anymore. They're supposed to protect and serve, but really it's just harassing."
Most shocking is that after all of the arrests Sampson has only been convicted of minor weed possession.
Alex Saleh (Earl Sampson's Boss)
Sampson's boss, Alex Saleh had seen enough. He quickly had 16 surveillance cameras installed inside and outside of his business to document the outlandish abuse of power by the police.
"Whatever record he (Sampson) has, they created it," Saleh stated to the New York Daily News. "He's a good guy, a humble guy, a quiet guy. He's not a convicted felon. They ask him, 'What are you doing here? He said 'I work here.' I said 'I'm the owner, let him go. He works here.' The officer said, 'Yeah right.' So he has more power than me!"
In one video Sampson is seen doing his job- restocking a cooler inside the store when police walk up and accuse him of trespassing. When the owner told police that Sampson was an employee there, officers responded that they didn't care.
Sampson, Selah and attorney Steve Lopez are preparing to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the police department. Their lawsuit claims that police have been instructed to illegally stop and search citizens through Racial Profiling.
Store owner Alex Saleh had grown tired of his business suffering at the expense of his customers being constantly harassed for no reason. Once his cameras were set up they caught police illegally searching his store on numerous occasions.
"They're stopping people for no reason in front of the business. Anywhere. Illegally searching them," said Saleh.
Mayor Oliver Gilbert
CBS4 then contacted Mayor Oliver Gilbert for comment on the story. Gilbert would not directly comment on the story, only to speak about the city's crime reduction policy. "The line is zero tolerance. So if you break a law, you're going to jail."
On another occasion, Saleh's surveillance video captures police stopping Sampson after simply exiting the store. Saleh had initially signed up for the policy, but now regrets that decision. "It is illegal. They created a policy that is illegal," he said. "You can't violate people's rights just by standing in front of a business. You have no right to pull me against the wall and search me and question me for no reason."
Video Below:
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