Recent Black police academy grad says Texas officers racially profiled him

A Black man who recently graduated from a police academy took to social media to share video of him being racially profiled by two Texas police officers. 

As reported by The Houston Chronicle, the incident occurred on Sunday, May 22 and was posted a week later on Facebook. The footage shows Michael McQueen, a retired disabled military veteran, educating two Joshua Police Department officers about the law after they confronted him outside a Dallas-area 7-Eleven convenience store.

According to McQueen, his vehicle had a disabled military license plate when Cpt. Scott Peters and Sgt. Shaun Fullagar accused him of illegally parking in a handicapped spot. McQueen began recording the cops after they stopped to question him. The officers also deemed him suspicious for wearing his police academy uniform and fully loaded duty belt with a .357 S.I.G Glock 32. 

The cops are heard asking McQueen for his ID and he refuses to comply, saying: “What’s your probable cause to ask me for my ID?”

When Peters and Fullagar pointed to the handicap sign, McQueen directed their attention to his disabled military license plate.

“It does not have a handicap placard,” said Peters.

“Read the plate. You don’t even know what you’re talking about; DV … That’s disabled veteran plates. We can park in handicapped spots,” McQueen responds. 

Peters then turns his attention to McQueen’s outfit. “I have never seen anybody wear a police academy uniform after graduation.”  

“That’s your business. I wear it all the time … to do my training. Because I’m a graduate I can wear the uniform,” McQueen responds. He goes on to call out the racial issues within the JPD and mentioned a major corruption scandal that rocked the department some years ago. 

McQueen told the officer to contact the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) to verify his identity and confirm that he is a certified peace officer. That’s when Peters reportedly got on the phone with TCOLE officials and confirmed McQueen’s credentials.

“You’re feeling small now aren’t you? You shouldn’t run up on people. You have no probable cause,” McQueen said to the cops. 

Peters then claimed the man’s certification was expired.

“I’m a graduate and I have TCOLE certification. So, I don’t care what he says … You want it to be expired because you see brown skin,” McQueen explained. 

“I have peace officer certification, just like you,” he said. “So go learn the law before you start teaching young people how to do the job. You’re a bad example … you don’t even know the rules of parking.” 

As their interaction concludes, McQueen tells the two officers to “take a walk … the walk of shame.”

“Yeah, the walk of shame. And don’t run up on me again. Don’t ever you run up on me again, do you understand,” he added. “And learn the law!”

McQueen decided to share the clip after Peters told him that they were not on the same side. 

TheGrio is now on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Recent Black police academy grad says Texas officers racially profiled him appeared first on TheGrio.