The Day They Took My Brother In

My brother was about 21 at the time and we were still living in the states.  He had just purchased a pre-owned Cadillac Escalade and trust me, it was sweet!  He would pick me up sometimes and of course I would ride in the front with my chest high.  Jamaican people would say "yuh have pretty car eye" (you love expensive cars).  Proud of my baby brother I was and still am.  On this particular night he and a couple of friends went to a party where he was the designated driver.  On the way back to Philly he dropped a friend off in Chester.  Back then, Chester was not the best area for a Black Man to get stopped.  While waiting at the red light, here comes the officer pulling up behind him.  He took note and made sure he pulled off slowly once the light turned green.  As soon as he was in the intersection, four police cars drew down on him.  Three officers jumped out with guns drawn asking him to exit the vehicle.  That was about 10:00 p.m. Saturday night.

Let me stop here and just give you a little insight into the character of my brother.  Never been in trouble.  Good student.  Went to one of the top universities in Philadelphia on a partial scholarship and graduated with a degree in Business Finance.  Those who don't know him would say he's hard-headed, but actually he is laser focused, and knows what he wants out of life.  No brush with the law in any shape or fashion......until......

Let's revisit the scene shall we.  A fourth officer walks up to the vehicle with his hand on his gun and asks him to step out of the vehicle.  Of course my brother complied.  When he asked what was going on and why he was stopped.....no answer.  Instead, he was asked to turn around and interlace his fingers behind his head.  Can you picture it?  They handcuffed him and told him to sit on the sidewalk.  My Mother's good, good, decent son.  The whole intersection was blocked off and a fifth vehicle pulled up.  That was the wagon; one similar to what Freddie Gray was in when he lost his life.  The whole time no one would tell him why he was pulled over.  They asked for and found his vehicle registration in his glove box.  He asked again what the stop was all about.  He was told that his vehicle tags "came up on [their] radar."  What does that mean exactly?  No explanation.  Officers were in the intersection with hands on their guns while their colleague questioned my brother about when he purchased the vehicle and who paid for it.  They asked him to stand, put him in the wagon and took him to central booking in Philadelphia.  When he got there he was asked by the officer at the desk if he knew why he was there, to which he answered "no."  The officer at the desk responded that he was brought in for a DUI.  Mind you this was not said to him at the scene and he was not drinking.  Further, he was not given a breathalyzer test at the scene.  Still cuffed, they put him in a cell and removed the cuffs after 1 hour of being behind bars.  He was given three breathalyzer tests which he passed with flying colours.  

At about 5 a.m. Sunday morning they came to the cell, cuffed him again and drove him back to his vehicle.  No explanation as to the unfolding of the night's events.  No paperwork given.  While driving in the back of the police car he wondered where he was going and what was going to happen to him.  Not one officer offered an explanation.  It wasn't until he started to recognize the road that he figured they were taking him back to his truck.  Once safely in his truck, he sat there for about 20 minutes trying to collect himself.  He expressed to me how enraged he was and how violated he felt.  He said he realised how easy he could have died had he resisted because all the officers that night in that intersection had hands on guns like they were conducting the biggest drug bust.  No resolution, nowhere to turn to get answers.  He contacted one of our Aunts who works in the legal field who passed the information on to one of her big attorney friends.  Inquiries were made, once again....no resolution.  That was 16 years ago.  That was the end of that until the next time they trailed him and pulled into his driveway 2 years ago.  That's a story for another day.  By the way, do I really have to mention what the officers looked like?