I’ve been thinking about that night so many years ago after watching the body camera footage when a Louisville Metro Police officer pulled over 18-year-old Tae-Ahn Lea for an alleged minor traffic violation at Burwell Avenue and 18th Street.
Lea was pulled from his car, frisked and handcuffed. For making a right turn into the left lane – instead of staying in the lane nearest the curb.
The full story: Louisville police handcuffed a black teen for a wide turn, then told him to 'quit with the attitude'
All those years before, when Tom pulled into traffic, hit a police car and sped away from the accident, no one pulled anyone from the car. No one was frisked. No handcuffs were needed.
We were clean-cut kids – the back of our hair well above the shirt collar lest we draw the ire of Mr. Nunn, the director of students at St. X.
Most importantly, we were white.
Tom, I think, got a ticket. We were sent on our way.
That would not happen to a black kid.
Not then. Not now.
In Lea’s case, the kid was dragged out of his car for absolutely no reason. He didn’t have a record. He did what you do when you drive out of your subdivision every single day.
The officers who used the pretext of an “improper turn” to stop him, then brought in a drug-sniffing dog that allegedly found something that interested it and the officers slapped the handcuffs on.
As a couple of cops rifled through the glove box, reached under the seats, went through the trunk and rummaged through his wallet, Detective Gabe Hellard gaslighted the kid.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why do you have this negative view towards the police? What has ever happened in your life personally where you can give me a good explanation?" Hellard asked.
What? You have got to be kidding me.
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You pull over a kid for nothing. You drag a kid out of his car for nothing. You handcuff him for nothing. And you make him stand there on the street for friends and neighbors to see him and you wonder why he has a “negative view of police?”
Come on.
If Hellard wants to know why young black men have a negative view of police, he needs to look no further than his own actions and the actions of Detective Kevin Crawford and the actions of canine Officer Jeff McCauley – the other officers who were involved in stopping Lea.
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