1/9 In Camden, Robert Bryant was harassed by police b/c he *met the description.* Except, the description was the color of his car.

He refused to cooperate. He was arrested. And now the County is appealing to the NJ Supreme Court to defend the arrest. https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/2020/07/23/robert-bryant-camden-county-police-false-arrest-jose-gonzalez/5485789002/?mc_cid=2720ffbb30&mc_eid=6ebacf4954

2/9 @jimwalsh_cp's reporting: First, Robert Bryant was sitting in a parked car at a shopping center when Officer Gonzalez came up to him to investigate a shooting that happened a dozen blocks away. The reason? Bryant's car was a red Taurus — like the red sedan from the shooting

3/9 Initially a court ruled that the officer could “draw inferences” that Bryant had been operating a (parked!) car, making it a traffic stop. On this tenuous justification, the officer was able to demand Bryant's identity and tried to force him to answer questions.

4/9 Gonzalez was also able to (legally!) search him because he “suspected” Bryant had a gun in his waist band. He did not. A three-judge panel ruled that once Bryant was searched and did not have a gun, he was within his rights to not give his identity.

5/9 But when Bryant did not cooperate, the officer told him “that if he refused to answer any of my questions, he would be placed under arrest for obstruction.” Officer Gonzalez then arrested Bryant.

6/9 Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen has declared it the infamous *proper arrest*. And the County is taking the case to the NJ Supreme Court to defend the officer's actions.

7/9 Remember this. The same political figures who push the *Camden is a national model for policing* story are going to the NJ Supreme Court to defend the right of police to harass residents b/c of the color of their car, or search them b/c of phantom “guns” that do not exist.

8/9
This is a regular form of harassment. If the car had been moving, this all might have been entirely legal. An officer can demand cooperation because it is a car stop, or conduct a search b/c of a phantom weapon.

9/9 This type of policing is why the photo shoots with ice cream trucks or police playing basketball with kids falls flat. *Community policing* happens everyday alongside policing where *meeting the description* is a justification to treat residents this way.