A Black pastor in Alabama is claiming he was racially profiled by police after he was arrested and charged with a crime while watering his neighbour’s flowers when they were out of town.
Rev. Michael Jennings, 56, was watering plants on his neighbour’s property when he was approached by police in Childersburg, Ala. He said the property owners had asked Jennings, a friend of seven years, to water the flowers while they were out of town.
The incident occurred in May, though police bodycam footage of the event, which was released last week, has since gone viral.
As an officer approached Jennings, who is holding a garden hose, he asked, “What you doing here, man?”
“Watering flowers,” Jennings, a longtime pastor at Vision of Abundant Life Church in Sylacauga, Ala., replied calmly.
In the bodycam footage, the officer asked Jennings if he lived at the home. Jennings replied that he did not.
“I’m supposed to be here. I’m Pastor Jennings, I live across the street,” he told the police as he continued to water the flowers.
The officer then told Jennings police received a 911 call about an unknown vehicle and a suspicious person on the property. Jennings had earlier confirmed the vehicle did not belong to him.
“I’m looking out for their house while they’re gone,” Jennings said as the officer continued to ask questions.
The officer asked Jennings for identification, to which the pastor refused, claiming he did nothing wrong. Joined by another officer, the police again insisted they needed ID from Jennings, who continued to water the flowers.
“Lock me up. I’m not showing ya’ll anything,” Jennings insisted.
Less than two minutes later, when Jennings tried to make a call on his cellphone, officers handcuffed the pastor. Only a few minutes afterward, Jennings was placed in the back of a police vehicle where he was charged with “obstructing governmental operations.”
In the bodycam footage, police also spoke to the woman who made the 911 call, even though they had already arrested Jennings. The woman confirmed in the video that she knew Jennings and she was likely mistaken in making the call about a suspicious person. She pointed to Jennings’ home and told officers he lived on the street.
“They went out of town today so he may be watering their flowers. It would be completely normal,” the unnamed woman told police.
Jennings accused the police officers of racially profiling him, to which one officer replied, “No sir, we are not about that.”
According to CNN, the charge of “obstructing governmental operations” against Jennings was dropped by Childersburg police on June 1.
Jennings’ lawyer, Harry Daniels, called the pastor’s arrest “irrational, irresponsible, and illegal.”
“This video makes it clear that these officers decided they were going to arrest Pastor Jennings less than five minutes after pulling up and then tried to rewrite history claiming he hadn’t identified himself when that was the first thing he did,” Daniels wrote in a news release.
In Alabama, it is legal for a police officer to ask for someone’s identification if they are suspected of committing a felony or other public offence. Jennings’ lawyer is now claiming there was not enough reason for Jennings to have to provide ID to the police.
Jennings told the New York Times he intends to file a lawsuit for unlawful arrest next week.
“I’m not anti-police, we need our police. We just need good police,” he said.