Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
Jordan Miles is a black teenager in the city of Pittsburgh. Miles also attends one of the city's most prestigious performing arts schools. On a cold winter night earlier this year, Miles claims he was assaulted by three plain clothes police officers. According to the lawsuit Miles' attorneys have filed against the city, the officers assumed that Miles was a drug dealer and conspired to file false charges against him to create a story to cover up their actions.
Miles says that he was walking to his grandmother's house when officers Michael Saldutte, David Sisak and Richard Ewing approached him. Miles claims that the officers proceeded to chase him, kick him and beat his face into the ground. The damage to Miles' face was extensive, and the officers allegedly pulled one of his dreadlocks from his head.
The alleged attack took place on Miles' 18th birthday. He says that he ran from the officers because he thought they were trying to kidnap him. The complaint got the attention of federal investigators from the United States Department of Justice. The officers were suspended without pay after the incident took place, and the suspension remains in effect until the justice department has completed its own investigation.
Initially, the police attempted to charge Miles with loitering, prowling, aggravated assault and resisting arrest. They also claim that he acted suspiciously and fought with the officers after they'd clearly identified themselves. Miles says that none of this is true and all of the charges were dropped by a judge once a court witness reduced the credibility of the officers statements. Police claimed that they asked a neighbor of Miles if he had the right to be on her property, and she says that Miles is a friend of her son. This refutes the officers' claim that she told police that he shouldn't be near her home.
Another interesting part of the story told in the police report is that the officers claimed that Miles was standing next to a building "as if he was trying to avoid being seen." They also said they saw something heavy in his pocket that looked like a gun, which they later claim was a soda bottle. The problem is that Miles says that he didn't even have a soda bottle in his pocket.
The lawsuit says that the "Defendants jointly and severally subverted and corrupted the judicial process to charge Plaintiff with crimes knowing the charges were false and knowing the evidence was fabricated."
Officers are being accused of using excessive force, imprisonment, false arrest and malicious prosecution.
When I originally wrote about the beating of Jordan Miles in January, the story brought me to tears. I felt tears of pain for the horror that Miles appears to have experienced, and tears of joy that police corruption in the city of Pittsburgh is being brought to the light of day. The truth is that I believe Jordan Miles' version of what happened on that cold winter night. There's nothing in his record which argues that he might be guilty of any of these allegations, and the officers appear to have very little credibility in their own story. To some extent, Jordan Miles has become the Rosa Parks of black male police brutality. His suffering will not be in vain, primarily because police corruption will be exposed as a result of this federal investigation.
The other side of the Jordan Miles case is that if the officers attempted to do this to Miles, we can almost bet our last dollar that it happens to other black males nearly every single day. Unlike Miles, who has a squeaky clean record, most of the victims of police brutality receive no credibility in the eyes of the American public, primarily because no one wants to believe a criminal or drug dealer when his civil rights have been violated. But the key to all this is to understand that everyone deserves due process, and we are all innocent until proven guilty, even drug dealers.
Miles' experience is also a wake up call about the challenges of black males in the criminal justice system. Every black man who's had an encounter with police has seen the abuse, disrespect and brutality up close. The shooting of Robbie Tolan in front of his mother is a reminder that no matter how good we are, how clean we are, or how law-abiding we are, none of us is safe when carrying our black skin. Therefore, it's important to know the law, obey the law and report police brutality when you see it.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.