Black NJ dad left in pain after arrest claims cops pulled him over for wearing hoodie
A black New Jersey man claims he was racially profiled after police pulled him over for wearing a hoodie on an 80-degree spring day — and filmed the four-minute confrontation that ended in his arrest to prove it.
Jamal Holmes of Jackson Township posted a video of the tense June 2 encounter on Facebook, which occurred outside his Westlake Mews apartment complex, alleging he was targeted because of his race.
Holmes, 34, said officers followed him from the complex to a nearby shopping plaza before pulling him over.
During the stop, Holmes asked, “What was the reason for stopping me?”
“When we drove by in the Mews, we just saw you; I was a little concerned, it looked like you were reaching down, just like hiding your face when we came by. You’re wearing a sweatshirt in 80-degree weather,” the officer said in the video.
Holmes said he was simply on his way to pick up his son.
“So you’re trying to say I look suspicious, walking out of my own apartment. Why? Because I’m black?” Holmes fired back, according to the clip.
More than two minutes into the video, officers informed Holmes that his inspection sticker had expired and ordered him out of the vehicle.
“No, I don’t have to get out of my vehicle. I know my rights,” Holmes responded.
Moments later, Holmes reluctantly stepped out of the car.
“You gotta be kidding me!” Holmes said.
Holmes later alleged officers pushed him against his car and took him to police headquarters before releasing him.
The incident left him in pain, Holmes said, because of a previous spinal fusion surgery.
“When young white people wear hoodies, they don’t get called suspicious,” he told New Jersey News12. “But as soon as a young black man is wearing a hood, it’s suspicious.”
Days after the stop, Holmes received summonses for obstruction and resisting arrest, along with a ticket for an expired inspection sticker.
The incident was being reviewed, Jackson Township Police Chief Mary Nelson said in a June 7 Facebook post, adding the department takes all “allegations of discrimination seriously.”