Bodycam footage released Tuesday afternoon by the St. Paul Police Department, in Minnesota, shows state Rep. John Thompson at a traffic stop accusing a cop of pulling him over for ‘driving while black'
The video of the traffic stop, early on July 4, starts with St. Paul Police Sergeant Peter Crum approaching Thompson’s car and asking to see his license. As he looks it over he says, ‘Why such a hurry?’
Thompson, a Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party member in his first term, says, ‘I don’t think I took off like a bat out of hell, I just drove up.’
The lawmaker then explains to Crum that he’s a state representative in the district, but Crum notes that he has a Wisconsin license.
Bodycam footage released Tuesday afternoon by the St. Paul Police Department, in Minnesota, shows state Rep. John Thompson at a traffic stop accusing a cop of pulling him over for ‘driving while black'
However, Thompson was driving with a suspended license from Wisconsin
Crum goes back to his car where he appears to use Thompson’s license to look up information on a laptop, then he seems to start writing him a ticket.
After about 10 minutes, Crum returns to Thompson and tells him that his license is coming up as suspended in Minnesota. Thompson refutes the claim and Crum tells him if that’s wrong, he could contest it with the Department of Vehicle Services.
Thompson then asks why he was pulled over and Crum says, ‘No front plate and then the way you took off.’
Thompson says, ‘I’m too old to be running from the police. You profiled me because you looked me dead in the face and I got a ticket for driving while black. You pulled me over because you saw a black face in this car, brother. There’s no way in hell I’m taking off with you behind me. You looked in this car and busted a U-turn and that’s the reason why —’
Crum interrupts and says, ‘It’s on camera, sir’.
But Thompson continues and says, ‘I know. But what I’m saying is what you’re doing is wrong to black men and you need to stop that. Stop racially profiling black men in their car.’
This is Rep. John Thompson's first term representing the state of Minnesota's District 67A, as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Laborer party
The two continue to argue as Crum insists that he wasn’t racially profiling Thompson before wishing him a good night and heading back to his car.
Thompson’s claim drew the ire of St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell, who wrote in a July 9 Facebook post that the state representative owes Crum an apology.
‘I was shocked to hear that driver accuse the sergeant of making the stop based on race,’ he wrote, ‘These aren’t accusations I take lightly, so I looked into the traffic stop, watched the body worn camera footage and spoke to the sergeant. This stop, made at about 1.20 in the morning, had absolutely nothing to do with the driver’s race. What it did involve was a public servant doing what the community asks of him . . . Simply put, the traffic stop was by the books. What happened afterwards was anything but.’
He continued, ‘I’m dismayed and disappointed by the state representative’s response to the stop. Rather than taking responsibility for his own decisions and actions, he attempted to deflect, cast aspersions and deny any wrongdoing. At the Saint Paul Police Department, we work hard to be fair, to treat everyone with respect and to lead by example. We also
