Black Princeton Professor Goes Off On Social Media Following Her Arrest

Dr. Imani Perry isn't her for the unfair treatment of police officers to minorities. Herself included.

Princeton Professor Imani Perry is protesting against an arrest during a traffic stop last Saturday (Feb 6). Dr.Perry says she was discriminated against my two white police officers because of her race; she ended up handcuffed to a table at the local police station.

The professor of African-American studies was allegedly driving at 67 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone, at around 9:30 am. So when the two officers—a man, and a woman—stopped her, they found that her driving privileges were suspended, and a warrant was issued for her arrest for two unpaid ticket violations stemming from 2013.

“The warrant commands the officer to take the person into custody,” Captain Sutter of the Princeton Police Department said, according to The New York Times.

Still, in a Facebook post by Dr. Perry she claims she was arrested for a single parking ticket. She says that she was humiliated and scared when she was forced to be body searched by a male police—coupled with the officers involved telling her that it was her fault, and she brought the situation against herself.

“There are a number of commentators online who have repeated to me an all-too-common formulation: ‘Well, if you hadn’t done anything wrong, this wouldn’t have happened,’ she wrote. “But this demand for behavioral perfection from Black people in response to disproportionate policing and punishment is a terrible red herring.”

Subsequently, she was held free after paying $130.00 in overdue fines, according to Captain Sutter. He also alluded that nothing was abnormal about the way the case was handled, he said the male officer just searched the “exterior portion of her clothing,” which means the pockets of her jacket with her shoes.

He also mentioned that it was not a requirement for a female officer to check her, especially considering how there are only eight female cops on staff.

Regardless of Sutter’s justifications, there is no denying the racial tensions that police departments all around the country have caused to the killings of individuals like Eric Garner in Staten Island; Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; and Sandra Bland in Texas.

In addition to her Facebook message, Perry also took to Twitter to share her story. Here is how she broke her experience down:

Yesterday, on my way to work, I was arrested in Princeton Township for a single parking ticket three years ago... — Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016

The police refused to allow me to make a call before my arrest, so that someone would know where I was... — Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016

There was a male and a female officer, but the male officer did the body search before cuffing me and putting me in the squad car. — Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016

I was handcuffed to a table at the station. — Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016

"We already know it IS the standard protocol for people in poor Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities to experience disproportionate police surveillance, harassment, violence, and punishment," she wrote. "That is the graver injustice. I’m asking you to understand that my experience, and my feelings, are directly and intimately tied to that larger truth. We unquestionably have a serious problem with policing in this society."

What are your thoughts on Dr. Perry's claims? Sound-off below