So many of us have been told by our parents what to do when pulled over by the police. As we all know, following the rules doesn’t always stop injustice, which was the case for 41-year-old Adam James.

On September 30, Adam was pulled over by Tulsa Deputy David Allen and Deputy Randy Schaefer. The deputies claimed he “veered partially” into a lane and when they stopped him in a parking lot “he had uncoordinated movements with his hands, dropping items from the glove compartment while searching for insurance verification and continuously raising his hands in the air. Adam James had difficulty following simple instruction (sic) without them being repeated multiple times and continuously raised his hands in the air,” according to the police report. The deputies accused Adam of being on drugs and arrested him.

Why were his hands up? He was trying to obey the officers. According to Tulsa World, Adam was “keeping his hands raised — to try to protect himself and the deputies.” We all know what can happen if a cop believes you have a weapon. As far as the glove department, “he said items popped out of the glove box because it was disorganized, not that he was dropping things. He said his heart rate was up because he was nervous and afraid that a wrong move could end up with him being shot.” This clearly isn’t an irrational fear. Considering Black men are three times more likely to be shot and killed by police. According to Adam, cops never mentioned him veering partially into other lanes.

Adam also said the cops were angry he was “over-obeying” and “So no matter what I did in there, I was going to lose.” James was given a ticket for an expired tag and told to perform field sobriety tests, “James performed five tests, of which he failed four (walk and turn, one-leg stand, lack of convergence and Romberg’s test for balance).” James admitted to being nervous, but insisted he passed the tests. Of course he was arrested, but get this — blood tests that he took at the Tulsa jail proved he had no drugs or alcohol in his system. All charges were dropped.

However, James was still forced to spend a night in jail and spoke to other inmates who were unable to leave jail because they didn’t have the means. Adam James explained, “I was there; I got out because I had the means. What if I didn’t?” Tulsa World also reported, “After his attorney is able to get his case expunged, James said he likely will have spent $8,000 to $10,000 because of the arrest and charges.”

This is a horrific story and could’ve ended much worse — to be arrested for “over-obeying” is deplorable. James is working with Still She Rises, a non-profit that raises money for single mothers in the criminal justice system. You probably already predicted this, but the officers have not been reprimanded for a wrongful arrest or wrongly accusing Adam James of being on drugs.

SOURCE: Tulsa World

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