It’s been over two years since the viral body camera footage was released of a Black Alabama pastor being arrested by the police for watering his neighbor’s flowers. However, he just received a ruling that may help him get justice.
In May 2022 a white 911 caller reported Jennings to the police after seeing him water plants outside a neighbor’s home.
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When the officers arrived, Jennings was asked to provide ID which he refused, citing state law that he was not entitled to do so unless he’s suspected of committing a crime.
In the body cam video, Jennings identified himself verbally and explained his neighbors asked him to come across the street to tend to their garden while they were away. Within minutes, Jennings was forced into handcuffs and charged with obstructing government operations.
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Though the charges were dismissed, Pastor Jennings sought his own legal remedy months later by filing a lawsuit against the officers. The suit accused them of violating his constitutional rights.
Chief District Judge R. David Proctor dismissed the case.
Luckily, Friday, three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the officers lacked probable cause for the arrest. Therefore, qualified immunity would not shield the officers from facing civil liability.
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"This is a win for Pastor Jennings and a win for justice. The video speaks for itself,” said Harry Daniels, the lead attorney for Jennings. “Finally, Pastor Jennings will have his day in court and prove that wearing a badge does not give you the right to break the law.”
@AskTheDevil another day of reality. If you read Black news sources this is the stuff you see multiple times a day all over the country. Standard stuff.
@thewebrecluse Yep. I used to be the typesetter for some local griot community papers years ago in the South. They would report on this stuff that consistently happened in the communities, while the big local papers would ignore them or barely drop a line from a police blotter.
It's still like that, if not worse.
If you want to know what's happening to black people, you can't trust big media at all. They're melanistically _antagonistic_ if anything.
Similar for indigenous reporting.
@thewebrecluse *crossed claws
What really killed me is when the silly busybody who called the cops in the first place tried to tell the officer that it was a mistake and that this was a neighbor, the Pastor was _still_ treated that way by those degenerates.