Rapper Fresh I.E. says he was humiliated when his car was pulled over at gunpoint by Winnipeg police on Wednesday.
(CBC)I don’t even know who rapper Robert Wilson, also known as Fresh I.E. is, but I do know when blacks are victims of racial profiling by police. Winnipeg police Chief Keith McCaskill has apologized to the rapper after he was mistakenly pulled out of his car at gunpoint by officers.
“This was our mistake,” the chief said at a news conference late Friday. “It was a human error.”
McCaskill admitted his officers made an error in their treatment of Wilson but said they drew their weapons as a precaution because of increasing violence officers have faced after confrontations with auto thieves. Yep, they just figure that the brother was a thief.
McCaskill said police officers were at a coffee shop when they saw Wilson’s car exit the drive-thru then swing back around quickly and drive past the take-out window again. The officers decided to check out the licence plate number, and phoned it in to a staff member to run it through a computer. The staffer misinterpreted the information that came up on the screen and reported the vehicle as stolen.
According to CBC News, police followed Wilson downtown and boxed in his car. They had him empty his pockets and placed him in a cruiser car despite protests by Wilson that the car wasn’t stolen. Police eventually heeded Wilson’s request to check his identification and registration and learned they had made a mistake. He and the passenger were then released.
McCaskill said his officers became suspicious when Wilson’s car turned abruptly back after going through the drive-in. It turns out that Wilson had forgotten a cup of coffee at the coffee shop and swung around the second time to retrieve it. So, because you see a black person driving and they turn around and return quickly, right away you assume that they are up to no good? Crazy, really crazy.
Wilson, who says he was humiliated by the incident, was nominated for a rock-gospel Grammy Award in 2005 for his album Truth Iz Fallin’ in Tha Streetz. Yeah, I would be embarrassed too and really angry about being a victim of racial profiling. This is the story of many decent, hardworking blacks in many cities across the United States. It is a real shame, but it is the reality in which we live today.
Filed under: Fresh I.E., Racial profiling, Robert Wilson, Winnepeg police
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