Michigan cop charges black graduate student with felony for driving to a well-lit area

How is that relevant?

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At 35 mph he obviously wasn’t trying to escape, he pulled over at the first well lit place, signaled with his arm and explained himself quite well in the back of the cop’s car. In the panic of lights flashing behind you, a guy (especially a black guy) can be forgiven for not thinking to turn on his hazards. If they suspect he was taking the time to hide stuff–uh, where’s the stuff he hid? It’s complete bullshit. The cops know–know goddamned well–he wasn’t trying to do anything other than ensure his own safety but still have to try to fuck him over because the need to flaunt their authority trumps human decency or common sense.

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“Mr. Wallace is a very cunning criminal and he made our job a lot harder,” said the Saginaw County prosecutor. “The well-lit parking lot is covered by security cameras, whereas the unlit road was a much better spot for the officer to execute Mr. Wallace without anyone asking a bunch of questions.”

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Link to longer local article here:http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/07/svsu_student_says_he_doesnt_de.html#incart_pop_thishour

Cop said “he saw” a car drive on the sidewalk on campus. Sounds like an excuse to pull the guy over for driving while black. Subject put blinkers on, drove 35mph, signaled with his arm he was going to pull over.

Cops are always telling people if they don’t feel safe, to pull over to a well lighted area. When they do, they get a felony charge.

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Re-read the quote, note how the word “student” is missing, so it reads like his name includes the name of the university. Is a joke. The point, you missed it.

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Apparently so. Although I have heard tell (rumors, I have no documentation) that some black people with creative first names have been arrested for crimes like “impersonation” or identity theft, even though the unusual first name is right there on the birth certificate. Just as outrageous as this arrest, and the frankly disgusting plea bargain offer.

Tell the court to stop pissing on DaJuawn’s back and saying it’s raining. We all know the score, and I’m so glad he didn’t take the plea bargain. It’s such a high caliber of bullshit that not flatly refusing and suing the court for extortion is the only real option for justice to be served.

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I tried this once… I was on a highway with no shoulder to pull off onto, and judged it would be safer for everyone to wait for an exit to pull over. I slowed down to about 20mph to make it abundantly clear I wasn’t trying to escape. The cop did not have any patience for that, and got on his loudspeaker saying pull over immediately several times. As you can see by my being here to write this, I complied.

I do think that slowing down to way under the speed limit is a better approach than turning on hazard lights, which could get one cited for failure to use a turn signal since hazards flash both signals. A quick wave could be useful, but having both hands on the wheel is safer when things are that taut.

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I hope that a reasonable judge will look at this and see that it’s not reasonable to charge this kid with a felony for looking for a safe place to pull over. His story by the way is entirely reasonable - here’s a local news item about Detroit police warning about fake officers pulling people over to rob them in 2013 - http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/22936094/warning-about-fake-cops-in-detroit - from that: “police say you have permission not to stop if you don’t believe a real police officer is trying to pull you over. Instead, call 911 and ask the dispatcher for assistance. If all else fails, drive to the nearest precinct.”

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America is destroying itself. I’m considering leaving the US for a more rational and benevolent country. I can’t live in a place like this.

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No offense intended, but are you white by any chance?

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There is more than one place in the U.S. that requires driving 1.5 miles or more to find a well lit area. I suspect that is even true in Saginaw County.

Before casting stones I suggest you at least first learn the details.

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Ugh infinity…
A little OT, but I’ll just leave this HERE

So sick of this crap.

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“I was uncertain about the make and the model of the vehicle, but this vehicle looked like the same color and was leaving the immediate area,” Wilson wrote.

Same color? Is that probable cause to stop someone? Because their car may, or may not, be the same color?

Saginaw Valley State University Police Officer Leon Wilson wrote in his police report that he initiated a traffic stop on Wallace because his vehicle fit the description of a car that he observed driving on a sidewalk on the SVSU campus. Wilson lost sight of the vehicle.

I wonder why there is no dashcam video of that suspicious sidewalk crawling vehicle?

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That’s about how far I rode my bike to/from school every day as a kid. I don’t know about the area this happened in, but in some areas that’s only the distance of a handful of stoplights (I was in a pretty residential area, and it still wasn’t all that many intersections).

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Beware!!! You have accidentally found yourself on an internet message board!

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I’m not sure what you are saying, is it that 1.5 miles isn’t that far to drive with a cop trying to pull you over?

The law states to pull over immediately with an emergency vehicle behind you. And from what I remember of the show “COPS”, it only takes 5 or 10 seconds before a cop starts calling for backup when a car doesn’t stop. I’m not saying anything in this situation is ok, but I am not surprised either.

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Found this (old) Police forum post on this:

Lots of ‘I Am The Law!’ type responses, as to be expected, some more reasonable.

http://forums.officer.com/t166535/

To the right SAFELY as soon as you see my lights. Decrease your speed, signal and safely move over to the shoulde or as near as you can to the curb and stop. Do not pull into a parking lot, drive around the building, pull into a spot, etc. That makes me think you are preparing to do something I don’t like, such as get me behind a building out of sight and start shooting at me. Makes me quick to skin that smoke wagon.

And this is amusing:

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Huh. I didn’t know it was illegal for cops to patrol in unmarked cars in Washington. I see them do it all the time. The spotlight on top of the driver-side wing mirror is a dead giveaway no matter what they’re driving. Also, I often see cars that have obviously been repainted and have decal scrapes. That in addition to illegally dark tint (usually well above 50%, when 30% is the legal limit, and most people use 45% or lower) gives those away too.

I’m going to mull over stopping a cop in an unmarked car the next time I see one.

They already do crazy illegal things. Like try to sneak up on you from behind with their headlights off in the middle of the night on the freeway, then tailgait with about 5 feet between your rear and their front bumpers at 60+ mph.

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Uh. He waited a whole two and a half minutes before pulling over. Only a moron would think this guy was evading them. I mean, I’ve blasted music so loud that I didn’t hear cops behind me until they used their bullhorn.

It is sad that public defenders are so overworked they can’t get this shit tossed out immediately.

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Instead of fixing your police problem? Police in an a democratic country with rule of law shouldn’t behave like armed thugs.

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