Racial Defiling: It only happens to the other guy. . .
It was a beautiful, warm and sunny, Wednesday afternoon on March 21st. I was traveling Eastbound in Jackson, Mississippi on I-20 at approximately seventy miles per hour in a tractor owned by my trucking company, Shipman Trucking & Transport, and a fully loaded trailer owned by Mystic Express. We were down a driver and I decided to go out myself. I have held a valid Class A commercial driver's license almost since the CDL Act of 1986 called for a single, federally administered commercial driver's license for all professional drivers; it was supposed to reduce fraud and increase accountability for bad drivers.
The trip originated in North Brunswick, New Jersey with stop and a pickup in Chicago, Illinois, a delivery in Fort Worth, Texas and a backhaul in Tyler, Texas. I had just taken a nice, hot shower and eaten a small breakfast in Louisiana; routing myself to drive through Mississippi, Alabama - states I had never really spent any time in - before heading North back home.
I was making excellent time when I noticed that I was being tracked by a marked what I thought was a Mississippi State police unit. The driver kept pulling up, then slowing down, but it was apparent that he was setting up to fire his strobes and pull me over. There was nothing to be concerned about or so I though. All of my paperwork was in order: I had the bills of lading as well as manifest for the load, my CDL was valid, Hours of Service reports or logs were up-to-date and current and, more importantly, I was legit.
I had just past the turn off for I-55 when he stopped me. It was not the State Police, though, but a marked Mississippi Public Service Commission vehicle operated by a heavy set, six foot inch, thirty something year old African American officer whose name I later learned was Ronnie White; a black man with an uncanny resemblance to Al Roker. I dismounted and walked around my truck to meet him; the officer seemed very affable - disarmingly so. Affecting a simple country boy demeanor. It did not ring true, though, and immediately raised my hypersensitive New Yorker suspicions.
White asked me what I was hauling, where my paperwork was, and if I would allow him to search my truck all in the same breath. It would have been a virtuoso performance save that I did not play out my role to his satisfaction. I told Mr. White that under no circumstances would I allow a consensual search of my tractor. But that he could inspect my truck all he wanted. He asked me why I would not allow this search, and I responded because it is my constitutionally protected right under the 4th amendment of the US Constitution.
He then called the company I was leased to and spoke to Nancy, the accounts payable clerk, who told him that she could not authorize a search of my truck precisely because it was my truck. And "isn't it his right not to allow this search?"
Mr. White responded by saying a simple "okay," walked back to his cruiser, while I admired the Mississippi greenery. A short time later, he honked his horn, summoning me to the car. We started talking and he again broached the subject of a consensual search of my tractor/trailer. By this time another unidentified officer pulled up in a late model black Chevy Camaro with a blue strobe affixed to the windshield. He was also African American, approximately thirty something years old with a baldhead, dark shades, and a semi-automatic sidearm that he made a big show of exposing over his cheap windbreaker as he walked over to White and I. He asked me why I would not allow the search as White handed him my CDL [commercial driver license], and I regurgitated the same spiel I had given to White.
This guy was demonstrably less pleasant than White and simply walked away with a "take him over there," which I assume meant anywhere but where he was running what I later learned was an unauthorized background check on yours truly. White later confirmed this by asking why didn't you tell me you had been "arrested" before? I told him that I did not re-call him asking the question, and even if he did, it was immaterial to the pretense under which he stopped me. I am a legitimate businessperson, college graduate, graduate student, minister, and decorated volunteer EMT [Emergency Medical Technician] who, was actively involved in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. I had identified myself and, as a result, did not have anything to prove to anyone relative to "youthful excesses" committed well over twenty years ago - especially to this man.
By this time, however, another person pulled up this time with a dog. I laughed because I could not believe that these people honestly thought I was stupid enough to be running drugs through Mississippi in a commercial motor vehicle. The guy who brought the animal claimed after a perfunctory, what I observed was a coercive inspection, the dog "hit" on the trailer. He asked me if I "smoked marijuana." I laughed and told him no, and that I had no idea of why the dog "hit" on the trailer but again repeated that if they wanted to search the truck, then follow the law and put me "out-of-service," impound the vehicle, and search it 'til their heart's content.
Instead this officer and his supervisor, who he said authorized this action, subverted the law, blatantly lied, claiming that I "refused an inspection," arrested and incarcerated me in the Raymond Detention Center in Hinds County, Mississippi, where I was photographed, fingerprinted and treated like a common criminal: unable to make a telephone call because the 'phones are programmed improperly for only local calls. That means that persons arrested living outside Hinds County area code cannot even contact people to let them know where they are. It was an incredible situation: one that illustrates how backwards this area of the country still is.
To say that this type of malfeasance is unacceptable would be an understatement, moreover. In the years I have been in the trucking business, I have never had a law enforcement officer moronically claim that he needed to enter the cab of my truck to conduct an inspection. It is an insult to the collective intelligence of truck drivers coerced into waiving their constitutionally protected rights against unlawful search and seizure.
And as the Hinds County sheriff deputies all stated to a person, White and his superior were angered by my knowledge of the law and wanted to punish me. These two MPSC officers did so by abusing their substantial authority and falsely arresting me. These farm hands masquerading as law enforcement officials violated the very canon of ethics upon which they have been sworn to uphold in their irresponsible zeal to make the "big bust." However, they picked the absolute wrong driver to play out this malfeasance on.
I stated in an unanswered letter to Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore's office that this matter can be easily investigated. All one need do is call the company we were leased to at the time, and ask to speak with Nancy, the accounts payable clerk; she was the person who took the call White made from a cellular handset mounted on the dash of his cruiser. The billing records from White's cellular telephone provider will bear out the fact that he did indeed make this call - if he acts in character and tries to deny it. He did not ask if he could "inspect" but if he could "search" my tractor, which is a legally important distinction.
Nancy told him that I was a "good guy," a "minister and wouldn't have anything to hide. . . but he probably just doesn't want anyone in his truck." Those recommendations did little to dissuade White from recklessly pursuing this matter.
More importantly, though, the trailer, presumably the only area of the vehicle they claimed the search dog "hit" on, was never searched - irrespective of the fact that Bill Ward, the tow company owner, called the MPSC office and asked when they would be down to conduct this search because he wanted to leave and go home. By the next day, when cooler heads prevailed and I was released from detention and driven to pick up this tractor, it still had not been searched. A fact that farther lends credence to my allegation that White simply wanted to search the cab of my truck and would and in fact did use all means at his disposal to accomplish this flagrant violation of my constitutionally protected rights against unlawful search and seizure.
The fictitious charges White filed with the Hinds County District Attorney's office are simply a transparent attempt to justify the arrest and, consequently, cover his protuberant derriere. . . We have written to virtually every agency responsible for enforcing civil rights in these United States. To date, we are still awaiting a formal response from US Assistant Attorney General Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. who heads up the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division; Senator Hillary Clinton, Rev. Al Sharpton, the Mississippi American Civil Liberties Union in the person of executive director Gail Chadwick, Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, and Kwesi Mfume of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
If this can happen to a published writer, activist, ordained minister, and legitimate businessperson with nary a blip on the national radar screen, then what happens to the thousands of other less prominent African Americans, Hispanics, Arabs that this is happening to with increasing frequency under the guise of national security? Those who claim to have taken up the challenge of articulating our collective outrage at racial profiling only seem to be interested in sound bites and getting their mugs plastered in as many newspapers and magazines as possible while doing as little as possible. . .
This farmhand wrote me up for three (3) misdemeanors in Hinds County to cover his own misfeasance as well as over zealousness, I do not have unlimited resources and cannot go into debt to fight them. But I will continue to write and agitate to ensure that officials involved in the decision to falsely arrest me are relegated to share cropping for the rest of their natural lives. I will not allow my character to be besmirched by phony allegations of criminality. It is an old Jim Crow tactic borne of the black code that has no place in present day America. And I urge all like-minded progressives to join in this struggle.
The trip originated in North Brunswick, New Jersey with stop and a pickup in Chicago, Illinois, a delivery in Fort Worth, Texas and a backhaul in Tyler, Texas. I had just taken a nice, hot shower and eaten a small breakfast in Louisiana; routing myself to drive through Mississippi, Alabama - states I had never really spent any time in - before heading North back home.
I was making excellent time when I noticed that I was being tracked by a marked what I thought was a Mississippi State police unit. The driver kept pulling up, then slowing down, but it was apparent that he was setting up to fire his strobes and pull me over. There was nothing to be concerned about or so I though. All of my paperwork was in order: I had the bills of lading as well as manifest for the load, my CDL was valid, Hours of Service reports or logs were up-to-date and current and, more importantly, I was legit.
I had just past the turn off for I-55 when he stopped me. It was not the State Police, though, but a marked Mississippi Public Service Commission vehicle operated by a heavy set, six foot inch, thirty something year old African American officer whose name I later learned was Ronnie White; a black man with an uncanny resemblance to Al Roker. I dismounted and walked around my truck to meet him; the officer seemed very affable - disarmingly so. Affecting a simple country boy demeanor. It did not ring true, though, and immediately raised my hypersensitive New Yorker suspicions.
White asked me what I was hauling, where my paperwork was, and if I would allow him to search my truck all in the same breath. It would have been a virtuoso performance save that I did not play out my role to his satisfaction. I told Mr. White that under no circumstances would I allow a consensual search of my tractor. But that he could inspect my truck all he wanted. He asked me why I would not allow this search, and I responded because it is my constitutionally protected right under the 4th amendment of the US Constitution.
He then called the company I was leased to and spoke to Nancy, the accounts payable clerk, who told him that she could not authorize a search of my truck precisely because it was my truck. And "isn't it his right not to allow this search?"
Mr. White responded by saying a simple "okay," walked back to his cruiser, while I admired the Mississippi greenery. A short time later, he honked his horn, summoning me to the car. We started talking and he again broached the subject of a consensual search of my tractor/trailer. By this time another unidentified officer pulled up in a late model black Chevy Camaro with a blue strobe affixed to the windshield. He was also African American, approximately thirty something years old with a baldhead, dark shades, and a semi-automatic sidearm that he made a big show of exposing over his cheap windbreaker as he walked over to White and I. He asked me why I would not allow the search as White handed him my CDL [commercial driver license], and I regurgitated the same spiel I had given to White.
This guy was demonstrably less pleasant than White and simply walked away with a "take him over there," which I assume meant anywhere but where he was running what I later learned was an unauthorized background check on yours truly. White later confirmed this by asking why didn't you tell me you had been "arrested" before? I told him that I did not re-call him asking the question, and even if he did, it was immaterial to the pretense under which he stopped me. I am a legitimate businessperson, college graduate, graduate student, minister, and decorated volunteer EMT [Emergency Medical Technician] who, was actively involved in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. I had identified myself and, as a result, did not have anything to prove to anyone relative to "youthful excesses" committed well over twenty years ago - especially to this man.
By this time, however, another person pulled up this time with a dog. I laughed because I could not believe that these people honestly thought I was stupid enough to be running drugs through Mississippi in a commercial motor vehicle. The guy who brought the animal claimed after a perfunctory, what I observed was a coercive inspection, the dog "hit" on the trailer. He asked me if I "smoked marijuana." I laughed and told him no, and that I had no idea of why the dog "hit" on the trailer but again repeated that if they wanted to search the truck, then follow the law and put me "out-of-service," impound the vehicle, and search it 'til their heart's content.
Instead this officer and his supervisor, who he said authorized this action, subverted the law, blatantly lied, claiming that I "refused an inspection," arrested and incarcerated me in the Raymond Detention Center in Hinds County, Mississippi, where I was photographed, fingerprinted and treated like a common criminal: unable to make a telephone call because the 'phones are programmed improperly for only local calls. That means that persons arrested living outside Hinds County area code cannot even contact people to let them know where they are. It was an incredible situation: one that illustrates how backwards this area of the country still is.
To say that this type of malfeasance is unacceptable would be an understatement, moreover. In the years I have been in the trucking business, I have never had a law enforcement officer moronically claim that he needed to enter the cab of my truck to conduct an inspection. It is an insult to the collective intelligence of truck drivers coerced into waiving their constitutionally protected rights against unlawful search and seizure.
And as the Hinds County sheriff deputies all stated to a person, White and his superior were angered by my knowledge of the law and wanted to punish me. These two MPSC officers did so by abusing their substantial authority and falsely arresting me. These farm hands masquerading as law enforcement officials violated the very canon of ethics upon which they have been sworn to uphold in their irresponsible zeal to make the "big bust." However, they picked the absolute wrong driver to play out this malfeasance on.
I stated in an unanswered letter to Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore's office that this matter can be easily investigated. All one need do is call the company we were leased to at the time, and ask to speak with Nancy, the accounts payable clerk; she was the person who took the call White made from a cellular handset mounted on the dash of his cruiser. The billing records from White's cellular telephone provider will bear out the fact that he did indeed make this call - if he acts in character and tries to deny it. He did not ask if he could "inspect" but if he could "search" my tractor, which is a legally important distinction.
Nancy told him that I was a "good guy," a "minister and wouldn't have anything to hide. . . but he probably just doesn't want anyone in his truck." Those recommendations did little to dissuade White from recklessly pursuing this matter.
More importantly, though, the trailer, presumably the only area of the vehicle they claimed the search dog "hit" on, was never searched - irrespective of the fact that Bill Ward, the tow company owner, called the MPSC office and asked when they would be down to conduct this search because he wanted to leave and go home. By the next day, when cooler heads prevailed and I was released from detention and driven to pick up this tractor, it still had not been searched. A fact that farther lends credence to my allegation that White simply wanted to search the cab of my truck and would and in fact did use all means at his disposal to accomplish this flagrant violation of my constitutionally protected rights against unlawful search and seizure.
The fictitious charges White filed with the Hinds County District Attorney's office are simply a transparent attempt to justify the arrest and, consequently, cover his protuberant derriere. . . We have written to virtually every agency responsible for enforcing civil rights in these United States. To date, we are still awaiting a formal response from US Assistant Attorney General Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. who heads up the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division; Senator Hillary Clinton, Rev. Al Sharpton, the Mississippi American Civil Liberties Union in the person of executive director Gail Chadwick, Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, and Kwesi Mfume of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
If this can happen to a published writer, activist, ordained minister, and legitimate businessperson with nary a blip on the national radar screen, then what happens to the thousands of other less prominent African Americans, Hispanics, Arabs that this is happening to with increasing frequency under the guise of national security? Those who claim to have taken up the challenge of articulating our collective outrage at racial profiling only seem to be interested in sound bites and getting their mugs plastered in as many newspapers and magazines as possible while doing as little as possible. . .
This farmhand wrote me up for three (3) misdemeanors in Hinds County to cover his own misfeasance as well as over zealousness, I do not have unlimited resources and cannot go into debt to fight them. But I will continue to write and agitate to ensure that officials involved in the decision to falsely arrest me are relegated to share cropping for the rest of their natural lives. I will not allow my character to be besmirched by phony allegations of criminality. It is an old Jim Crow tactic borne of the black code that has no place in present day America. And I urge all like-minded progressives to join in this struggle.
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