Black Teen Who Was Arrested While Walking Home During A Snowstorm Has Charges Dropped Against Him
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Posted By: Kennedy Williams on February 22, 2021 Last week, 18-year-old Rodney “RJ” Reese was arrested and charged for being a pedestrian in the roadway while walking home during a snowstorm in Plano, Texas. The officers were initially responding to a welfare check when someone called the police and reported seeing a Black man dressed in a t-shirt and shorts stumbling in the snow. Plano police spotted Reese, and even though what he was wearing did not match the description of who they were looking for, they continued to follow him. While the officers claim that they were following him to make sure he was going to be okay in the snowstorm, Reese repeatedly told the officers that he was fine and did not need any help. As Reese continued walking home, the officers stayed on his tail and kept insisting that he stop and talk to them. After Reese proceeded home and asked the officers, “Why do y’all keep following me?” the officers blocked him in an alleyway near his home and pounced on him to handcuff him. They later tell him that he was being arrested for “pushing on an officer.” Reese was then taken to the city jail, where he spent the night. Reese later told KDFW that he didn’t stop walking because he did not need help and wanted to avoid the police so he could make it home. Reese knows that all of this escalated because he was a young Black man minding his business. “Just ‘cause I’m Black, that’s it. It’s ‘cause I’m Black, I fit a description,” he said. “I don’t even think the call would’ve happened” if he weren’t Black. In a press conference with KXAS-TV, Reese’s mother, Rachel Brown, said: “It just kills me...I moved to Plano for a reason, and that reason backfired on me. I pay more to live in the area that I live in. And yet the people that I pay taxes to, I pay their salary, they didn’t serve him that night. They failed him that night.” Police Chief Ed Drain, who is Black insists that the arrest had nothing to do with race and defended his officers' actions by saying that they had no way of knowing Reese’s age, where he lived, or where he worked (even though none of those things were relevant to the situation). Drain did say that the officers “should’ve taken [Reese] home,” even though it is reported that Reese made it clear that he did not want a ride from the officers. The police officers have since dropped a misdemeanor charge against Reese. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Kennedy Williams
From Loganville, GA Spelman College class of 2020 Member Since July 2016 |
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