‘Said I Looked Suspicious’: New Jersey Cops Arrest Black Man in Hoodie, Admit They Pulled Him Over Because It Was ‘80 Degrees’
New Jersey cops arrested a Black man after pulling him over for wearing a hoodie, claiming it made him look “suspicious” because it was 80 degrees that day.
Jackson Township police charged Jamaal Holmes, 34, with obstructing and resisting arrest and cited him for having an expired inspection tag, which they did not notice until after pulling him over.
But multiple courts have ruled that detaining people based solely on their clothing does not constitute reasonable suspicion. Nevertheless, police continue to racially profile Black people for wearing hoodies.
Hoodies and Racial Profiling
Even cop wannabe George Zimmerman described Trayvon Martin to a dispatcher as “suspicious” because he was wearing a “dark hoodie” before killing the 17-year-old Black boy in 2012.
And following that shooting, Republican agitator Geraldo Rivera, a Fox News commentator, tried to blame Martin’s killing on the hoodie he was wearing – even though it had been raining that day.
Rivera ended up apologizing to Martin’s parents after his son said he was ashamed of his father for uttering such nonsense.
But more than a decade later, police continue to detain Black people based on their clothing, as we can see in the latest video from June 2.
“Jackson Police Department said I looked ‘suspicious’ getting into my car while leaving my apartment, followed me for over 3 miles, then yanked me out my car, physically slammed me into my car, and placed me under arrest for ‘obstruction,’” Holmes posted on his Facebook page after being released from police custody.
“All bc I asked for a supervisor as soon as they gave me no legal reason for a traffic stop.”
“Then I’m released and being sent summons in the mail when the EMS has to rush me to the ER bc of back pain around my screws,” he continued.
The cop who initiated the stop has been identified as Matthew Herrick by YouTube attorney, Southern Drawl Law, a rookie cop who graduated from the police academy in March.
Watch the video recorded by Holmes below.
Wearing Hoodies Is Not a Crime
Holmes’ video was picked up by the media, where commenters were mostly divided by race as to whether it was a lawful traffic stop.
Most white people said he should just have complied, while Black commenters saw it as racial profiling, which is more aligned with the actual law.
In 2018, Tennessee cops arrested two Black men for wearing hoodies inside a mall that had a policy forbidding hoodies. A Black retired journalist was also arrested for trespassing after recording the arrest.
Prosecutors dismissed the charges against all three men, and the mall changed its dress code policy.
In 2021, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the conviction of a minor arrested for drugs after he was searched for wearing a hoodie in July in a “high crime area.”
“Something more than wearing a hoodie in July and being in a high crime area was necessary to create a reasonable suspicion that J.D.L. was armed and dangerous,” Judge Neeti Vasant Pawar wrote in the ruling.
In 2012, the ACLU sued the Salt Lake City school district and police for racial profiling minority students wearing hoodies, resulting in policy changes and settlements.
But the practice continues since there is little accountability for the officers who make these unlawful detainments.
“During the height of stop-and-frisk in New York City, over 80% of those stopped were Black or Latino,” according to a New York law firm named Horn Wright.
“Most had done nothing wrong. Most weren’t arrested. They were simply harassed, searched, and humiliated, for walking home, for wearing a hoodie, for looking ‘suspicious.’”
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Holmes for an interview, but he stated on Facebook that he is not granting interviews because he is considering legal action.