Walking while black

I am white, male, clearly middle-class, no tattoos or piercings, very tall and wide (as in, people tend to leave me alone). Although I have been physically assaulted (Paris, 2001), and on the receiving end of verbal abuse, it’s been vanishingly rare. This is to say, I have precisely NO idea of what it is like to be the regular target of unwanted (and official)attention. This chap does, however.

Black teenager who was stopped-and-searched 50 times between 14 and 17 will sue London cops for harassment

By Cory Doctorow at 6:05 pm Friday, Aug 24

A 17 year old black teenager in London is tired of being busted for walking while black. He says he’s been stopped-and-searched without cause fifty times since he was 14, and that on a number of occasions this has included bullshit charges (later dropped), wild accusations, strip searches, and detention in police cells. None of these stops has led to a conviction — his most recent one almost did. PC John Lovegrove arrested the teenager during a stop-and-search, alleging that he assaulted the cop during a stop-and-search. The case went to court, but then collapsed when the footage showed that the teenager “[lay] there like a dead fish” during the search, and did not roll over or spit, as was alleged by the constable.

The Met won’t comment on the case. The teenager will sue the London Metropolitan Police for harassment.

And via the comments below that story, I found this…