Posted on 10/03/2024 8:55:06 PM PDT by Morgana
Michael Jennings, a pastor arrested while tending his out-of-town neighbors’ yard, can sue the city of Childersburg, Alabama, and three police officers involved in the case.
On Friday (Sept. 27), a three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a lower-court ruling that had dismissed Jennings’ lawsuit. The officers aren’t protected by qualified immunity, the panel said, because they had no probable cause to arrest Jennings.
Jennings, who is Black, was confronted by police in May 2022, after a white woman called 911 to report a “suspicious individual” in a neighboring yard. The pastor, who identified himself verbally but refused to show his ID, said friends had asked him to water their flowers while they were away.
Body camera footage released a few months later shows Jennings being handcuffed and placed in a police vehicle. “Y’all racially profiled me,” he told the officers after they arrested him. A charge of obstructing government operations was dismissed days later. Attorney Calls Ruling ‘A Win for Justice’
Alabama’s “stop and identify” law, which permits officers to demand identification, applies when police have “reasonable suspicion” that someone is committing a crime, the 11th Circuit Court ruled.
“While it is always advisable to cooperate with law enforcement officers, Jennings was under no legal obligation to provide his ID,” said the court. “Therefore, officers lacked probable cause for Jennings’ arrest…because Jennings did not commit an independent unlawful act by refusing to give ID.”
Jennings, pastor of Vision of Abundant Life Church in Sylacauga, Alabama, said the officers “dehumanized” him and violated his constitutional and civil rights. Jennings’ lawsuit claims he suffers from “ongoing emotional distress,” including PTSD-like symptoms, nightmares, and flashbacks.
Harry Daniels, the lead attorney for Jennings, said Friday’s ruling was “a win for Pastor Jennings and a win for justice.” Daniels claimed the body-cam video showed that officers were intent on arresting the pastor but “then tried to rewrite history claiming he hadn’t identified himself, when that was the first thing he did.”
Daniels added, “Finally, Pastor Jennings will have his day in court and prove that wearing a badge does not give you the right to break the law.” The ruling could impact other civil rights cases throughout Alabama, according to the attorney. Pastor Michael Jennings Thanked God for Sparing Him
As ChurchLeaders has reported, Jennings said he holds no grudge against the neighbor who called police on him. “I don’t hold anything against my neighbors. I still speak to them,” he said in 2022. “Matter of fact, I’ve talked to [the woman’s] husband since the incident, and he was telling me how bad she feels about it.”
“I love that neighbor just as well as I love the one where I was watering their flowers,” said the pastor. “May not have to like them all the time, but we have to love them anyway.”
Jennings, a former law enforcement officer, also insisted he’s “not anti-police.”
In an opinion piece for USA Today, Jennings addressed racism in America, saying we must address it so history doesn’t repeat itself. “I am grateful that God spared me on that day,” he wrote in September 2022. “I’m grateful that God can use me moving forward to help spread his message that we are all made in the image of God and in his likeness.”
The pastor added, “God, please forgive those who pass or have passed judgment upon your creation based solely on the color you assigned to your creation at birth.”
Yes, I see it on TikTok where there are tons of videos about police behaving badly.
I remember that video. Mr. Jennings was behaving “suspiciously”, and he wouldn’t ID upon request. And so he was arrested.
Alabama is not a stop-and-ID state. There are, in fact, no stop-and-ID states. And that’s because the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution takes precedence. No crime = no ID.
There was no crime. That didn’t stop the trash cops from arresting Mr. Jennings anyway. How dare he his stand on his constitutional rights! Mr. Jennings deserves a million-dollar settlement. And the cops who casually violated his rights should be jailed for a false arrest.
The first might well happen. The second much less so.
Hate it for the taxpayer but I hope he takes them to the cleaners. Cops have a gift for making mountains out of mole hills. The do it by belligerent intimidation. A pox on many of them.
The fracas may have been race inspired but it was grounded in stupidity. I wonder what neighbor called 911 and what really motivated that call?
“A charge of obstructing governmental operations...”
F
k you government !
> The fracas may have been race inspired but it was grounded in stupidity. <
I think it was mainly due to the egos of the cops. Mr. Jennings stood on his constitutional rights. He would not obey unlawful commands.
That upset the cops. Mr. Jennings did not behave like a trained seal. And so he was arrested.
Don’t get me wrong. The cops certainly had a duty to respond to the call, and investigate the situation. Talk to neighbors. Try to contact the owner of the flowers Mr. Jennings was watering. But stay within the bounds of the 4A.
None of that automatic “papers, please” crap.
So watering flowers is now *suspicious activity*?
They should have gone and had a good talk to to the ignoramus who called that in and rattled her cage about wasting their time.
Christian hate is showing more per day by more and more posts on here by a certain individual.
Lackluster has been following this since the original story broke. Updated yesterday.
These cops have zero understanding of the law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rTwllqPKdI
Yes, he should sue the hell out of the police department.
Indeed.
Anything to make Christianity and Christians look bad.
The Enemy must be pretty pleased with it.
Well, it is very common for older colored people to engage in drive-by flower watering in broad daylight in a front yard. Those people have become so bold and aggressive!
There is that. Also a good thing he didn’t have a dog with him. People who water flowers right out in the daylight and a front yard are so suspicious and dangerous!
They arrested him because the cops don’t know the law.
Yes. I forgot about a dog. You are right. Thank God for that too.
Gee, and I always though Al Pastor was only good for taco meat.
“While it is always advisable to cooperate with law enforcement officers...”
That is clearly not an accurate statement.
Never answer questions or volunteer anything without a lawyer present. NEVER.
I hope he gets a large payday. Watering hisneibors flowers does not even begin to show suspicious behavior. The Karen who called the police is the one who should be charged. In many places, police are out of control. No need to ask for ID when watering flowers. Is this town Nazi Germany 1943?
“Jennings, who is Black, was confronted by police in May 2022, after a white woman “
There is the important part.
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