Tokamawon Juty, 31, and his attorney Joseph Hennessey are slated to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Worcester Police Department after Juty was reportedly stopped by officers more than 70 times in eight years.
“I feel like every single time, even if I’m not driving, and I make eye contact or an officer sees my dreads or he sees I’m Black, they’re going to come after me,” Juty told GBH.
Juty accuses the Worcester Police Department in Worcester, Massachusetts, of racial profiling. He also claims officers who have profiled him over the years lodged bogus charges against him, including stealing cars and drugs, he told GBH.
Juty is the founder of TJ Solutions, Corp., a marketing business he’s operated since 2014. He says he was on his way to Boston from Worcester, which is an hour-long commute by car, when he experienced one of his more memorable police encounters.
On Nov. 17, 2021, Juty was a passenger in the Mercedes SUV he owns. His friend was driving his car when a Worcester police officer pulled them over. The encounter was recorded on cellphone camera, a practice Juty adopted as his traffic stops became more frequent in the city.
“I just know whenever they’re coming now, I just have my phone ready to record,” Juty said.
During that encounter, police told Juty his car did not match the color listed on his vehicle registration. Juty admitted to the officer he had a purple vinyl wrap covering the original white paint as the registration indicates.
“It’s a car wrap,” Juty is seen telling the officers on cell phone video.
The law doesn’t require his registration to be updated in such cases, GBH reported.
The traffic stop ended with Juty being arrested after an argument over the wrap. He was charged with disturbing the peace and interfering with a police officer. Juty is disputing those charges.
“The officer states that Mr….
Read the full article here
