Fresno sheriff’s deputy handcuffed a Black pastor in his driveway. Pastor writes to Mims
.jpg "A pastor and youth program director is calling for an investigation and an apology after a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy handcuffed him in his own driveway in an incident that started with a broken license plate light.")
A pastor and youth program director is calling for an investigation and an apology after a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy handcuffed him in his own driveway in an incident that started with a broken license plate light.
Joseph Perry, executive director of the program Boys2Men Girls2Women Foundation, wrote a letter to Sheriff Margaret Mims about the traffic stop that occurred Sunday. Perry in his letter wrote the incident was “clearly a case of racial profiling.”
Tony Botti, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, said supervisors are reviewing the incident. He confirmed that Perry was “let off with a warning.”
‘Humiliated, harassed, beleaguered, and embarrassed’
Perry recounted the Sunday incident in a phone interview Tuesday with The Bee.
He was headed home about 11 p.m. when he saw a law enforcement vehicle flash its lights behind him. He continued driving about 500 feet and pulled into his driveway and opened his garage.
Once parked, the deputy used his loudspeaker to order Perry to remain in his vehicle. Perry followed those instructions and put his hand out of the car window.
“This is what we’re trained to do as an African American who lives in America,” Perry said.
The deputy came to his window and told Perry he pulled him over for his license plate light being out. Perry asked to take a look and expressed he was upset with how the deputy handled the situation.
That’s when the deputy told Perry he was acting erratic and the tone of his voice was aggressive. The deputy then handcuffed Perry and asked him to sit in the back of his sheriff’s vehicle, Perry said. Another deputy showed up at that time.
Perry, who is 6 feet tall and said he has bad knees, struggled to sit in the back of the deputy’s car.
“I am writing because I was extremely humiliated, harassed, beleaguered, and embarrassed in the driveway of my home, in front of my son and the entire neighborhood, when I was handcuffed and thrown in the back of a police car by one of your officers with(out) an explanation,” Perry wrote to Mims.
In the end, Perry was released. He was not issued a citation.
The security cameras on his home captured the incident, but the bright lights from the sheriff’s vehicle make the video too difficult to see what was happening, Perry said. He wrote down the name and badge number of the sheriff’s deputy.
“I am appalled, perplexed, confused and extremely distraught by this treatment and demand an investigation into this matter so that this sort of treatment is not repeated towards anyone. I think a formal apology by him is in order,” Perry wrote to Mims.
Racial profiling
In his letter to Mims, Perry questioned whether a white man with blond hair and blue eyes would be treated the same way.
He described himself as a bald, impeccably dressed African American man with no tattoos or piercings who is an “outstanding member of the community.” He acknowledge his size and raspy voice could be intimidating but said that’s no reason to treat him differently.
“You don’t get more squeaky clean than me,” he told The Bee.
Perry said law enforcement must stop “harassing” Fresno’s Black community.
“…Every one of us should be treated as individuals who are innocent until proven guilty,” he wrote.