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A lawsuit was filed last week against Utah and Idaho police departments by two Black Idaho State University students who were wrongly arrested in 2016.

Atoa Fox and Nehemiah McFarlin were arrested after officers accused the young men of robbing the U.S. Bank in Malad City, Idaho on December 14, 2016. Officers claimed the two students fit the suspect’s description. According to attorneys representing the pair stated the only thing that matched was the men’s race, the Standard-Examiner reported.

Fox and McFarlin teammates on the Idaho State University football team. At the time of the incident, they have headed to California when they were met with icy roads. Their car slid off the road damaging the vehicle, forcing them to wait on the side of the highway for AAA.

A passerby saw the two men sitting on the side of the road and called police according to the lawsuit. The complaint also said Utah Highway Patrol officers pulled up to where McFarlin and Fox were parked and ordered the men out of the car at gunpoint. They were taken to jail and spent that night and most of the next day behind bars before being released due to lack of evidence.

The complaint continues by saying Utah Highway Patrol officers pulled up to where McFarlin and Fox were waiting and ordered the two out of their car at gunpoint. The two players were accused of robbing the bank just across the state line in Malad City and despite their offering alibi evidence at the scene, were taken to jail and spent that night and most of the next day behind bars before being released due to lack of evidence.

Later officers would arrest Dakota Shareef Walker in Ogden, Utah on Jan 10, 2017.

Nicka Fox, the mother of Atoa Fox, told the State Journal in 2016, “They were absolutely racially profiled. If it was two white kids sitting on the side of the road, (the police) would’ve called for backup and assistance to help them. … They would’ve made sure they were OK. My son doesn’t deserve to have to walk out in these cities and worry about the color of his skin.”

Attorneys representing the men are alleging false arrest, illegal search and seizure and excessive force in their lawsuit. They’re seeking at least $10,000 in damages.

Read more:

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Louisville police officers violently arrest unarmed Black man

Brooklyn mom violently separated from 1-year-old son has all charges against her dropped

Civil rights groups file lawsuit against Maryland Prince George’s County and its police chief

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