LaSalle man sues SPVM over arrest
Four years ago a black man in a car in Lasalle had his car window smashed by police and was pepper sprayed in the face, and now he wants restitution. The only charge police could come up with later was that he’d driven across a solid single line. Ashton Boodoo is seeking $93,000 from the SPVM for his treatment.
Ephraim 14:08 on 2019-07-24 Permalink
The SPVM should warn all officers, if you are caught doing something blatantly racist, you will be held personally liable for your actions and subsequent lawsuits. Likely won’t work, but at least the first one will shit their pants when they are personally listed on the lawsuit…. and those subsequent might want to think twice, least they be held liable for their personal actions that violate rights.
david100 00:32 on 2019-07-26 Permalink
Maybe this was a straightforward drunk driving/refusing to blow charge that the guy is racializing to try to get out of it, and possibly for profit, maybe the judge is right that the police just decided to arrest this guy for no reason. But unless there’s something I’m missing, this suit will be barred by the statute of limitations, which makes you wonder if this is a publicity move.
Kate 08:44 on 2019-07-26 Permalink
david100, if it’s a publicity move, why? This man won’t benefit from personal publicity for himself. This is one of a sadly long string of stories of our police acting more harshly against people of colour, and if that needs a light shone on it – good!
It’s hard to get people in an institutional role to admit they’re automatically more suspicious of people of colour. Nobody wants to admit they have racist impulses, and it’s notoriously hard to get a cop to ever admit they were wrong. Every couple of years the city gets up and says well now, we’re going to deal with racism in the police, and they make some promises about awareness campaigns and anti-racism lessons for the force, and then the same things happen again.
I don’t know how it must feel to be a black man and know that everything you do is submitted to a different level of scrutiny than white folks get. That’s got to be a hell of a burden over a lifetime.