Being black and famous is no protection from police misconduct

Recently a number of black celebrities, athletes and entertainers have found themselves caught up with the law, not as perpetrators of crimes, but as alleged victims of police misconduct and racial profiling. These incidents demonstrate that police abuse is still a problem in society, particularly as black men are concerned. And no amount of money or degree fame will render a person harmless from the criminalization of color.

Last week, hip-hop producer Pete Rock — of the famed Mount Vernon, New York duo Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth — alleged police brutality at the hands of the New York Police Department (NYPD). Specifically, during a release party for Smif-N-Wessun’s new album Monumental at the Tammany Hall club on New York’s Lower East Side, the police allegedly used heavy handed tactics against what they believed was an unruly crowd.

According to cell phone video and eyewitness testimony, Pete Rock’s wife Shara McHayle, their daughter Jade and others suffered injuries from police excessive force. Jade was arrested and jailed for allegedly trying to protect her mother from the police.

Pete Rock, his wife and their attorney held a press conference Thursday at Manhattan Criminal Court to speak out on the incident and seek justice for those who were caught up in the altercation. Rock, who has worked wonders for the likes of Kanye West, Busta Rhymes and Mary J. Blige, accused the NYPD of inciting a riot.

“It was beautiful, man. Me and my wife and my family walked up in there, everybody giving us love, pounds, they’re happy I’m in the house,” Pete Rock said of the party where Smif-n-Wessun performed. Things changed according to Rock when the club’s house lights were turned on. “We noticed two cops came in when the lights came on. Then they went back out, then they came back in,” Rock said. Then, Rock said his friend Lewis Peña was assaulted by the police. “Like four or five cops threw him against the wall, beat him with the stick, punching him with closed fist, had him on the ground beating him motionless with their sticks and it was just crazy. It just got crazy,” he said.

The Pete Rock incident comes under the heels of several cases where athletes have characterized their personal encounters with the police as racially motivated. And they used media and social media to tell their story.

For example, on May 5, Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson was visited by Orlando’s finest because of the unusual number of television cameras at his house. Police were supposedly suspicious of drug activity. “Y did the police just walk in my condo saying they think it’s drug activity because it’s alot of traffic but it was the MTV camera crew. … Hard being young, black, and rich” Johnson tweeted on his Twitter page. Johnson, who was not engaging in any drug dealing, was cooperative with the officers.

Meanwhile, three weeks later, Warrick Dunn, the retired running back for the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said he felt violated when stopped by police outside of Atlanta. Citing the tint of his window as the officer’s stated reason for pulling him over, the Falcons minority owner and philanthropist tweeted on the matter: “During the stop he asked a lot of personal questions and said I had the characteristic of people transporting drugs and guns,” Dunn said. “I felt violated and I’ve had my car since ’08 and never got pulled over for tint.”

Dunn claims his car was searched by the officers, at least one of whom was a Georgia state trooper. “Taken back because I think the reasoning was bad and they are trying to fill end of month quotas,” Dunn tweeted.

Later, Dunn, who received a warning for the tinted windows, released a statement that he would address the issue through “appropriate channels.” He added that “As the son of a hard-working police officer, I understand the stress that police officers are under.”

And in late June, Darnell Dockett, Arizona Cardinals defensive end, felt so harassed by the police that he tweeted about it, albeit on a lighthearted note: “I don’t know why the police always messing w/me I’m never gonna let them search my car with out a search warrant! No matter what! … Police sitting here waiting on back up cuz I told them YOU NOT SEARCHING MY CAR! PERIOD! & now I’m sitting here! Owell I aint got [anything] 2 do! … There R 3police cars and they are talking! I don’t see A search warrant they won’t see inside this escalade! I got all day hope they don’t!”

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