NJ school official calls ‘skinhead cop’ during stop - TomoNews
- 6 years ago
SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY — A New Jersey school official was caught on camera using foul language and calling a police chief a "skinhead" during a traffic stop last month.
In dash cam video released by South Orange Police, on April 27, an police officer pulled the New Jersey school board member over to the side of the road because she was reportedly going 37 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.
When the officer approached her driver-side window, Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad pointed out that she was on the New Jersey Board of Education.
As she became more hysterical, she called the officer's superior a "skinhead" cop chief. Lawson-Muhammad was then heard breaking into tears saying "I'm scared of cops because you guys hurt black people."
The police officer in the video is white. Lawson-Muhammad is black.
Assuming Lawson-Muhammad was about to have a panic attack, the officer asked if she needed an ambulance. She replied she did not and said "that's an insult."
The officer told her that she was getting summonses for speeding and for not having a valid insurance card. She argued that she didn't want to go to court and she has insurance.
Lawson-Muhammad threatened to call the local high-ranking officials after the officer said he could not void the ticket. She was eventually let go after accepting the ticket from the officer.
In a response to the speeding incident, Lawson-Muhammad and the school board's spokesperson did not comment on it, New Jersey's New Jersey 101.5 reported.
The South Orange-Maplewood Black Parents Workshop has asked the board member to issue a public apology and accused her of attempting to exercise her "civic privilege" during the traffic stop.
The Parents Workshop group later sent the school board president a letter informing that the board member may have abused her authority during the traffic stop and had engaged in abusive behavior toward the officer.
The group says that had their roles been reversed, and the police officer had treated Lawson-Muhammad in the manner in which she treated him, they would be going after him the same way.
The South Orange Police Chief told New Jersey 101.5 that he had not read the letter from the Parents Workshop group, but he did acknowledge that the responsible officer handled the situation professionally.
In dash cam video released by South Orange Police, on April 27, an police officer pulled the New Jersey school board member over to the side of the road because she was reportedly going 37 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.
When the officer approached her driver-side window, Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad pointed out that she was on the New Jersey Board of Education.
As she became more hysterical, she called the officer's superior a "skinhead" cop chief. Lawson-Muhammad was then heard breaking into tears saying "I'm scared of cops because you guys hurt black people."
The police officer in the video is white. Lawson-Muhammad is black.
Assuming Lawson-Muhammad was about to have a panic attack, the officer asked if she needed an ambulance. She replied she did not and said "that's an insult."
The officer told her that she was getting summonses for speeding and for not having a valid insurance card. She argued that she didn't want to go to court and she has insurance.
Lawson-Muhammad threatened to call the local high-ranking officials after the officer said he could not void the ticket. She was eventually let go after accepting the ticket from the officer.
In a response to the speeding incident, Lawson-Muhammad and the school board's spokesperson did not comment on it, New Jersey's New Jersey 101.5 reported.
The South Orange-Maplewood Black Parents Workshop has asked the board member to issue a public apology and accused her of attempting to exercise her "civic privilege" during the traffic stop.
The Parents Workshop group later sent the school board president a letter informing that the board member may have abused her authority during the traffic stop and had engaged in abusive behavior toward the officer.
The group says that had their roles been reversed, and the police officer had treated Lawson-Muhammad in the manner in which she treated him, they would be going after him the same way.
The South Orange Police Chief told New Jersey 101.5 that he had not read the letter from the Parents Workshop group, but he did acknowledge that the responsible officer handled the situation professionally.