op-ed: how my encounter with the police quickly turned ugly and potentially dangerous

On Nov. 30, 2014, in Corpus Christi, TX, I was stopped by Officer Chris Meer for driving without my headlights on. This was the first time I had been stopped and it turned ugly quick. Instead of asking if there was anything wrong with my lights, the officer immediately started questioning me about beer. I was not aware of any alcohol in my vehicle and had not been drinking prior. He then asked me to step out to perform a field sobriety test, which he conducted off camera and I showed no signs of impairment, as discussed in the video. He then ‘detained’ me and began searching my vehicle for the alcohol he thought he saw at my feet. In his police report he reported that there was an open container in my backseat and that I displayed impairment during the field sobriety test as the probable cause for searching my car. These were both lies. When I expressed my frustration with his unconstitutional search, Officer Christopher Meer became extremely upset. He placed me under arrest despite not having removed any alcohol from my vehicle. I then talked to Lt. Clements and stated I had drank earlier in the day with my father which in Texas is not an illegal action. Lt. Clements then instructed Officer Chris Meer to charge me with a DUI in hopes that I would lose my license. Fortunately, the ALR prosecuting lawyer dismissed the charges against me and I kept my license but I am still facing criminal charges. Feel free to share this video with those it may concern and decide for yourselves whether these ‘police’ were just doing their job or overstepped boundaries.

By #HumanFirst, AFROPUNK Contributor

Dash Cam video:

I think it would be best not to use my name right now because I am still awaiting trial but I want to get the story out because I am so angry that this is going on all over the country. I keep hearing about the outrage in Boston and it makes me upset that the media is portraying African-Americans in such an ugly light, as rioters, destroying the city. It also saddens me that students, many of which depend on the free school lunches, are displaced and going without food. As we have seen in the news many have paid the ultimate price for minor infractions (Eric Garner) or no violation at all (Freddie Gray and Dontre Hamilton) at the hands of the police. But what happens when you are harassed by the police and keep having to live in a society that categorizes and judges people by the color of their skin? At first, it really brought me down. You hear about people being treated differently because of the color of their skin but no one expects it to happen to them because this is America right? Equality for everyone. Not exactly, even if everyone in America decided to be accepting souls, a lot of our racism is institutional. It is established in our laws, which only recently, since the ‘ 60s have changed to allow upward movement in society for minorities. The internet is a platform for the world to share information and as long the current generation keeps using the internet to express their frustrations with the current establishment, the people will prevail. We are not born black or white. We are born human and all that I ask is for people to speak up. Speak up for yourself if someone is treating you wrong and most importantly speak up for others because when it comes down to it we all breath the same air and are on the same planet just trying to make it through another day. #Humanfirst