Black former Northeastern AD says Newton Police pulled guns on him 5 days before George Floyd

Six Newton police officers pulled up on the former Northeastern University deputy athletic director and his wife with guns drawn, thinking he was a slaying suspect, an incident the AD says is another example of officers stereotyping black people such as himself.

“We were stopped by four police cars, by six police men, because we fit a profile,” said Tim Duncan, the former Northeastern deputy AD. “Because I fit a profile.”

Newton police confirmed that they did confront Duncan, who on May 20 happened to be walking down a block cops were surveilling for a suspect in a Boston killing. But the department said the officers “reasonably assumed, based on physical description and the location of where he was, that Mr. Duncan was potentially the suspect.”

Duncan, a former deputy AD at Northeastern and current athletic director at University of New Orleans (and not the longtime Spurs star big man of the same name), said the incident happened a block from his house just five days before the death of George Floyd. Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police — captured on video — has sparked massive and widespread protests over cops’ treatment of black people.

“I understand police have to do their job — they do — but for police to roll down on me with guns dawn on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon with my wife is uncalled for,” Duncan said. “And it’s uncalled for that George Floyd had a knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.”

Duncan said in a video statement released Wednesday that he recalls having “the talk” from his parents about being wary about police.

“This stuff has happened way too much,” Duncan said of police killings and other incidents involving black men. “I’m pissed. I’m outraged.”

He added, “This doesn’t just happen to who’s portrayed as thugs on television — it can happen to your athletic director.”

Newton Police said, “Newton resident Tim Duncan raised serious concerns and questions about being stopped and questioned by Newton Police Officers on May 20, 2020. We understand why he is concerned, particularly in light of the death of George Floyd just five days later, and the many other cases involving Black people and police. The questions he raised about the conduct of the Newton Police and the use of force are important.”

The department ran down a summary of the incident, saying Newton cops were staking out the block in search of a Boston shooting suspect who had ties to someone who lives on the block. The department says they and Boston police arrested that suspect on the block the next day.

The department added, “The Use of Force guidelines state in one section, ‘Officers shall not direct their firearm at a subject unless there is a reasonable belief that there is a threat of death or serious bodily injury.’ In this case, Newton Police Officers reasonably assumed, based on physical description and the location of where he was, that Mr. Duncan was potentially the suspect wanted in the Boston fatal shooting.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2XsIv0a