What do you do when the police do something wrong to you?
The District attorney is supposed to help you but it seems like no one there wants to talk to me. I was arrested one day before Thanksgiving. I felt violated and still feel vulnerable and confused about what happened. I still don’t understand it.
Maybe our readers can give me some advice. Who am I to turn to? What should I do?
They told me I was arrested for being on private property. But I’d been selling the newspaper there for 11 years, in the Metro Center station. Right outside the station. I know the rules and regulations, I’ve been doing this for 11 years.
They told me I wasn’t supposed to be there. The owner of the building by 12th St. NW exit near McDonald’s. That day, I was told by police officers to move. I was instructed to move to the sidewalk and then I was arrested. I was standing right where people come out of the subway.
I had my vest, my badge and my mask on! And I was just trying to make a living.
I think it was discrimination. Maybe it was discrimination against my age. Maybe it was discrimination against homeless people. Maybe it’s new people who are unfamiliar with the city.
On the day I was arrested, a Black lady I’ve never seen before said I needed to leave and threatened me with the police. She said this to me at the same spot I’d been selling in for years.
In fact, I sell at the same spot now because I like my customers. I’m a businessman.
The police should’ve taken me downtown but they took me three hours to another location. They processed me for an FBI background check and put me in a dirty cell. I had an appointment for my vaccine and I couldn’t get it that day. They also did not give me a ride back to where I was. I had to get on the bus to get back. And by the time I got back, my tablet was broken and I was out $60 to get a new one. I was so mad.
Since that day, I’m constantly worried that the police are coming to get me. In the end, they didn’t press any charges. The district attorney dropped all charges and no papered the case. What should I do now?
