A family in Gulfport, MS was pulled over by a swarm of police cars, handcuffed, held at gunpoint without explanation, and told to “Shut the fuck up.” Turns out the cops thought the family had robbed their own house.
On Sunday night, Kelvin Fairley, along with his wife, sons ages 16 and 12, 9-year-old daughter, and 12-year-old nephew were pulled over after a neighbor reported seeing burglars at their house. Rather than simply ask Fairley for his ID, which would have cleared up the issue in seconds, the entire family was pulled out of the car with guns drawn on them.
According to the Sun Herald:
“I totally think they racially profiled me,” said the father, Kelvin Fairley, a registered nurse who happens to be black. “They never would even tell me why they stopped me. From the moment they pulled us over, there were six to seven police cars. They immediately had their guns drawn.”
Fairley said the officers told him to get out of the car with his hands up. He kept asking why they had pulled him over, but he said he got no explanation.
They later went to the police department to file a report on how they were treated, and again were treated with an unsympathetic, hostile officer (video here). Of course his children were traumatized and cried themselves to sleep.
“Last night, I would have been OK with an apology,” he told the Sun Herald, “but after what happened at the police department, that’s it. My kids are totally distraught.”
Farley plans to call his attorney.