In one other case of police incompetence, Virginia cops arrested a Black man on felony prices for sporting a masks in public for his job.
The Norfolk law enforcement officials claimed they had been imposing a state regulation prohibiting the sporting of masks in public after they arrested Jorge Diaz Jr., who was returning residence from his job at a house enchancment firm, when he was aggressively arrested at his condo complicated by three cops on January 22.
However the cops didn’t acknowledge that the regulation contains exceptions permitting residents to put on masks in public, together with for security causes whereas on the job, which was the case right here.
“I’m nonetheless on the clock at work! What are you doing? What the f_ck you doing?” Diaz exclaimed as he was being arrested, in keeping with the video recorded by a Black girl named Samira Brooks.
“He didn’t do something however Strolling Whereas Black,” Brooks mentioned whereas recording the arrest earlier than posting it to her Fb web page that very same afternoon, the place it has been considered greater than 357,000 instances as of this writing.
The story was picked up by native media, and Norfolk police have since mentioned they’d withdraw the costs in opposition to Diaz, a 29-year-old worker of Paramount Builders, a Virginia-based residence enchancment firm.
Brooks, who mentioned she is a nurse within the video, was debating the regulation with a male cop who insisted she was flawed, telling her to “look it up” – when it ought to have been the cops trying up the regulation earlier than making an arrest.
“This younger man was strolling into his residence and he was arrested as a result of the police requested him to tug down his mouth masks over his face,” she mentioned.
“It solely trigger he’s Black.”
Watch the video under.
Ignorance of the Legislation
The arrest passed off after Norfolk police responded to a grievance of home violence that allegedly passed off inside one of many residences on the complicated.
However the feminine caller instructed police the male suspect had fled the condo, which was when police turned their consideration to Diaz, who had nothing to do with the decision or the condo it got here from, however was returning residence from work.
In her affidavit, Norfolk police officer Ashleigh Marie VanDriesen wrote the next:
Whereas on one other name for service, I noticed a male stroll by sporting a balaclava masks overlaying his face to incorporate mouth, nostril and hair. I requested the male to tug the masks down. He briefly pulled it down, then pulled it again overlaying his mouth and nostril. I instructed the male he couldn’t put on the masks in public and requested for his ID.
The male refused to supply ID. Male was arrested for 18.2-422.
The regulation cited in VanDriesen’s affidavit was enacted in 1953 to stop the Ku Klux Klan from donning masks and terrorizing Black individuals as that they had performed for many years. It applies to anyone 16 and older.
However had VanDriesen bothered to lookup the regulation, she would have found a number of exemptions, together with the legality of sporting masks for conventional vacation costumes, masquerade balls, theatrical productions, in addition to for medical causes and underneath public well being emergencies like COVID-19 if the governor points a declaration.
The exemption that applies to Diaz states the next:
Engaged in professions, trades, employment, or different actions and sporting protecting masks that are deemed mandatory for the bodily security of the wearer or different individuals;
As a house enchancment contractor, a masks protects Diaz from mud, solvents, fibers and different contaminants. The federal Occupational Security and Well being Administration additionally recommends that contract employees put on masks for security causes.
In her report, VanDriesen claims she arrested Diaz for refusing to supply identification, however Virginia isn’t a stop-and-ID state, that means police have to have an inexpensive suspicion an individual is committing against the law earlier than they’re required at hand over their identification.
Diaz spent the night time in jail earlier than he was launched the next day.
‘Clearly Stereotyped’
Whereas VanDriesen doesn’t seem to know the legal guidelines she is meant to implement, Brooks, the Black girl who recorded the arrest, was not as clueless when she posted the video on her Fb web page with the next caption.
In Norfolk / Virginia, sporting a masks or “shiesty” is authorized
Virginia’s masks regulation (Va. Code § 18.2-422) solely makes masks unlawful when BOTH are true:
• An individual is committing or about to commit against the law, and
• They’re sporting the masks to hide their id for that crime.
It additionally has clear exceptions for:
• Well being / medical causes
• Work
• Climate
• Security
A person:
• Getting out of a marked Paramount Builders truck
• Carrying an organization hoodie
• Strolling into his condo
= not committing against the law
= masks is 100% authorized
The officer saying “you aren’t alleged to put on a masks in public” was flawed underneath Virginia regulation.
⸻
2. Virginia is NOT a stop-and-identify state
In Virginia:
You solely must establish your self if:
• Police have cheap, articulable suspicion you might be concerned in a particular crime.
Greater than 1,500 feedback have been left on her video since she posted it final week, most of whom are outraged over the illegal arrest, thanking her for recording the illegal arrest.
“I thank God you was there black Queen thanks for protecting him secure,” commented one girl.
“I do know this younger man personally,” commented one other. “He has by no means performed flawed or something to get into hassle EVER. That is ridiculous. His complete household is tore up over this. Which I don’t blame them one bit, he was very clearly stereotyped.”
“A felony?! Actually?!” questioned one other commenter. “Say you’re focusing on a sure demographic with out saying you’re focusing on a sure demographic.”
Final yr, Atlanta Black Star reported on the case of one other Black man who had been harassed and falsely accused by Norfolk police, retaliating in opposition to him when he tried to carry them accountable.
