It should come as no surprise that there's racial profiling in Arizona, especially in Surprise, Arizona. Jessie Thornton, despite taking a breathalyzer test which showed a Blood Alcohol Count of 0.0, nevertheless was handcuffed, taken into custody, and had his car impounded.
Story can be found here. A few details below the squiggles.
From the article:
The motorist was handcuffed and taken into custody. Thornton submitted to a Breathalyzer sobriety test and blew a 0.000 blood alcohol content (BAC).
Thornton was eventually free to go, but not before his car had been impounded and the Arizona MVD had been notified of the DUI charge.
The real crime, was driving while black:
Despite the seeming exoneration of the test, the suspect was charged with a DUI, an assessment that led Thornton’s attorney to quip that the real crime was, “D-W-B. Driving While Black.”
Thornton told the local ABC News affiliate that he has been pulled over 10 times and issued four tickets since moving from Ohio to the retirement community of Surprise. This latest stop was the first time he’d been taken to the Surprise lockup.
Red eyes, not the black skin, given as the grounds for the arrest.
The arresting officer cited the retiree’s red eyes as grounds for the arrest. Thornton credits chemicals in the neighborhood L.A. Fitness’s lap pool for the redness, a theory in line with Surprise law enforcement’s resident DRE—drug recognition expert.
I cannot know what it is like to go through this. I'm a white female, so inoffensive looking that I am the person that most strangers appeal to for assistance and especially for directions (which is a mistake as I am directionally challenged).
Here's what followed:
Thornton was eventually free to go, but not before his car had been impounded and the Arizona MVD had been notified of the DUI charge, which resulted in a notification that his driver’s license was being suspended and he would be required to attend “some sort of drinking class or something.”
Rather than attend the drinking class, former firefighter filed a claim against the city of Surprise seeking $500,000.
I hope Surprise gets surprised out of doing this anymore. But given acts like those by George Zimmerman to the crazy Dunkin Donuts customer, this country has a long way to go.
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Tired of politics? Need to escape? Try one of my Greek mythology based novels, either the story of Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus or one of the first examples of civil disobedience, Antigone and Creon. Or, if you like mysteries and/or Jane Austen, treat yourself to The Highbury Murders: A Mystery Set in the Village of Jane Austen’s Emma.