Police misconduct stories abound here in the United States; this year, I got my very own real kicker of one. Today, I am sharing it here on DailyKos; the very first time this story'll be heard in the progressive blogosphere.
My story has already been heard in the world of progressive talk, albeit on one of the smaller players in the game. Back on September 4, I was brought on as a guest on the great progressive talk show Turn Up the Night with Kenny Pick, on the just-as-great progressive-talk-and-music station Indie Media Weekly. I recommend listening to this segment in addition to reading this diary. You can either listen via the embedded video player below, or download the audio file itself for listening here. (Note that I usually go by "Corey" in daily life rather than "Squall", and am addressed as such on the show).
So, it was the night of Thursday, April 9. I had just gotten finished with a 6-hour-long session of one of my favorite games, Saints Row: The Third, and I was quite hungry--specifically, I had a craving for some deep-fried tacos from Jack in the Box.
For those of y'all who don't have JITB in your area, or just haven't been to one, these tacos are basically the closest thing to pure Food Heaven you'll ever get for two for a dollar.
I packed my backpack with my essentials: debit card, a bit of cash, bike tools, riding gloves, and a couple of personal accessories, and set off on my bicycle for the approximately two-mile trek west to the restaurant; this particular location is the one on W Berry Street by TCU.
Story continues below the fold...
I arrived, parked and locked my bike, and ate my meal. I got eight of those things, and ate them with fries and some Sprite. It was pleasant. :)
By this time, it was 1 in the morning, but the area was still quite busy, since it was a college district, anchored by a huge university and featuring many bars, restaurants, clubs, and other such "hangout spots", most of which didn't close until two. Several establishments, including the Jack in the Box location I had just dined at, were open 24/7. I decided to go for a stroll to walk off a bit of the food before I started cycling back home. After a little while, I arrived at the intersection of S University Drive and Benbrook Boulevard. I hit the pedestrian button to cross westbound across University.
It was then that I idly noticed a Fort Worth police cruiser going northbound in the far-right lane on University, passing right beside me, with only its dims on. I didn't think much of it. The signal changed; I crossed, then hit the button to cross Benbrook southbound.
Suddenly, the same cruiser that had passed me a couple of minutes prior approaches; the spotlight on the side turns on and shines directly on me. Then, on go the blinky lights and the siren.
Here I am thinking, "WTF? I hit the button and waited for the walk signal. I didn't so much as jaywalk. What is going on here?"
The officer, a middle-aged white guy, gets out. Without hesitation, he says, "I couldn't help but notice you're out for a walk at one in the morning with a backpack on; you look out of place."
At that moment, what runs through my thought bubble is, "Really? As opposed to the dozens of others out and about along this same street, many of whom also have backpacks?"
Verbally, however, I remained silent, as the next line from him emerged, just as two more cruisers arrived with two more officers, for a total of three of each. "This is a high-burglary area; you could be scoping places out, planning to break in!"
Needless to say, I was the only black guy in the immediate area, so draw the obvious conclusion from that.
I showed my I.D. and answered only questions relating to my identity; I remained silent for all other questions and statements--and there were many of them. Some highlights, with what was in my thought bubble in parentheses "( )":
- "This is a high burglary area. We get a lot of house and car break-ins here. It's just funny how you're out here walking with a backpack." (There were loads of others out at that hour, also, most returning from bars. Many had backpacks as well, but were not stopped.)
- "Is your backpack full of stuff that wasn't in there when you left the house?" (Well, I found a nickel on the ground by the stop sign at the intersection of W Cantey St and 6th Ave... does that count?)
- "Why are you walking around at night?" (Because it's not always day?)
In a nutshell, out came the typical police tactic known as "trying to get him to say something, anything, that we can use as a reason to arrest him, even if he's completely innocent". I, however, continued invoking my Fifth Amendment right to keep my pie hole shut, and also refused to give consent to be searched, which appeared to annoy the officers more and more ("eek, he knows how to constitution!").
Several things floated through my mind, notably how much I was reminded of the Ray Bradbury short story "The Pedestrian". I became a black Leonard Mead.
After what felt like a small eternity, but was more like about 15-20 minutes, they finally relented. "Okay. Get your backpack and get the hell out of here!"
So, I did. I continued my walk for a while, eventually meandering back to my bicycle, where I noticed someone had stolen my light set. I sighed, unlocked my bike, and started my return journey back home, this time via the sidewalks only, so as to not be riding at night on the street without lights.
I was about halfway back, halfway between S Adams Street and College Avenue, when I stopped to pull out my headphones to finish a Best of the Left podcast I had started earlier. At that very moment, a police cruiser going the opposite direction (westbound) in the far-right lane did a massive U-turn, across five lanes of traffic. It lurched to a stop beside me. On went the blinky lights again, just as two more cruisers pulled up.
Surprise, surprise: they were the same cops from earlier, who by this time were almost fifteen blocks outside of their division's boundary.
The first thing out of the cop's mouth was, "You didn't tell us you had a bike earlier... for all we know, you could have stolen this bike!"
Immediately my thought bubble filled with, "Well, I didn't tell y'all anything earlier except my name and where I lived. Am I supposed to tell y'all everything? How's about how many times I passed gas since I left the restaurant?"
Once again, I remained silent except to (re-)identify myself. Out came the same playbook from earlier. After a few minutes of being questioned like this, on went the cuffs.
Obviously, I asked what they charge or charges were. The reply? "None, yet. You're just being held for now." I was hustled into the back of the police car.
From inside, I watched as they rummaged through my backpack and inspected my bike. After a few minutes of that and other assorted silliness, the officer that cuffed me approached the car and informed me that I was being ticketed for "bicycling at night without a headlight" (never mind the fact that, at that time, I was walking the bike on the sidewalk) and also being charged with "possession of criminal instruments".
Yeah, seriously. My bike tools are apparently "criminal instruments" now. That charge is one of those that really makes no sense--a cheeseburger could be a "criminal instrument" in some circumstances, for the love of Pete!
I start being driven Downtown. On the way there, I have a panic attack and black out. The next thing I know, I'm cuffed to a hospital bed at JPS with two IVs in my arms. Two nurses, a doctor, and a police officer (a different one than any of the ones that had harassed me) were in the room.
I get interrogated by them this time around. Apparently, they thought I "faked" everything to "try and get out of going to jail", and that "it wasn't going to work".
Yeah. With my severe fear of needles, I definitely love going to the hospital!
Good grief.
After some hours there, I was transported to the holding jail Downtown, where I was placed in a solitary cell for a matter of what was about three hours.
I and some of the other inmates there then go before the Magistrate, who, thankfully, dismissed the "possession of criminal instruments" charge against me for what I found out later from my attorney was a complete lack of merit or probable cause. I also found out that many details on the official police report were completely fabricated.
This is not a case of charges being dropped "eventually" by a criminal court judge on down the road; this is a case of the charge never being pursued in the first place. For such a thing to happen, it really has to be bogus. Bogus like a three-dollar bill.
An hour later, I was released... with only my keys, cell phone, and ID card.
I went to the front desk, and sure enough, they had seized most all of my stuff, and, thanks to those lovely two words--"civil forfeiture"--said stuff was now Gone--capital "G" intended, despite the county declining to pursue any criminal charges against me. My bike, my bike tools, the backpack itself, my headphones, my riding gloves, even my debit card with my name on it--all of that is now forever gone, destined to sit in the Fort Worth Police Department property room before it's auctioned off to Nature knows who sometime next year.
Later that month, as a direct result of the Fort Worth false arrest, a warrant for my arrest was issued by Denton County, where I was under community supervision for striking a bully back (so much for being raised to believe I should defend myself, right?). I ended up spending a month in jail--May 11 to June 11--before I was cleared of wrongdoing (after all, the 'new case' in Fort Worth never had any "there" there) and released.
Now, I'm fully aware that I didn't get severely beaten, killed, et cetera, but this incident still shook me to my very core. My heart now skips a beat every time I see a Fort Worth police car, bike, or motorcycle. I am out my dream bicycle that I searched for for months (finally finding it for sale at the Sunday flea market over on Henderson Street in March), my other property, and also thousands in attorney fees and backed-up bills. I may not be Sandra Bland or Freddie Gray, but what I faced was still a major injustice.
I started a GoFundMe campaign to replace my stuff and make me whole from the whole thing a few months back... but, frankly, by this point, I'm more focused on just getting this story out there into the progressive news-sphere and getting people into activist mode, especially against civil forfeiture (see below); in particular I'm hoping that doing this leads to me hearing from an organization and/or law firm that will assist me in taking civil action against the Fort Worth P.D. I'd love to see these officers and the department have to answer for this in court, and pay damages for what their irresponsible, low-down antics did to my life this year. I have an almost 90-year-old grandmother to assist daily, and I had to spend a month in jail for, basically, absolutely nothing. The ticket, thankfully, was later thrown out in municipal court, on June 25.
Now, many of y'all may not be too familiar with what "civil forfeiture" is. A perfect summary of what it is comes from the great people at EndForfeiture.com:
"Civil forfeiture—a process by which the government can take and sell your property without ever convicting, or even charging, you with a crime—is one of the greatest threats to property rights in the nation today."
You can find even more details at the End Forfeiture website, as well as by watching John Oliver's brilliant overview of it here:
Media people (podcasters, bloggers, reporters, et cetera) and others who wish to contact me (including for looks at the police report [not posted here publicly because it has my home address on it] and to speak with the criminal-law attorney who represented me), may do so via squallwinds !at! gmail.com.
So, yeah. That's what happened to me. Those "cheap" tacos, in the end, ended up really costing about six thousand bucks. Many others share similar stories. I'd recommend first going to the EndForfeiture site, and then Googling "civil forfeiture cases"; prepare to weep for property rights in the United States today. Then, proceed to look up false arrest cases; weep then for civil rights/liberties and human rights in general.
Then, take action. There're many ways to get involved; one is just a Google search away from multiple organizations that tackle the issues of civil forfeiture, false arrests, and general police misconduct. Most people know about the FA side of misconduct, but fewer know of CF and its horrors. It's time we shine a spotlight on the issue and work to get the laws changed. Amongst other reforms, a criminal conviction should be required for seizures to stand. After all, if there's no guilt, why should you lose your property?
The change has already happened in Montana and New Mexico. This is one of the very few issues that progressives, conservatives, and libertarians alike agree on. The Cato Institute hates it. Even the Heritage Foundation stands against this. It's simply a matter of enough of everyone getting off their butts and demanding a change in this policy--yet another part of the for-profit policing industry here in America.
The bicycle in question, a seven-speed Electra Townie.
1:36 PM PT: So, I did some digging around on my computer, and found a picture I took of my "dream bike" shortly after I bought it. I figured I'd add it here, to put a photograph with the story. It's a seven-speed Electra Townie, which I have yet to replace. It's one hell of a cool bike, but unfortunately somewhat hard to find in Texas.
Thanks to everyone who has responded positively to this diary, including those who've donated. Y'all are much appreciated. I am glad I started writing here, I feel more welcome here than anywhere I have ever been, online or off. :)
1:48 PM PT: It's as I said in the original post: civil forfeiture abuse is one of the very few issues most all of the American political spectrum oppose. It's just about awareness and action at this point. Spread the word and let's fight for reform!