WINFIELD, Kan. (KSNW) – A victim of an alleged racial profiling incident in Winfield is considering legal action.
KSN has reached out to Rudy Samuel who recorded the incident on his cell phone. Rudy gave KSN permission to share his video. Over the weekend, he was stopped for a turn signal violation in Winfield. An officer questioned some vegetation that was found in the window sill of his car. Samuel told the officer it was from a tree. The officer told Samuel to step out of the car, and he was detained during the incident. The cell phone video cut out, but audio continued.
Attorney Dan Monnat says a lot of questions remain.
“Did the law enforcement officer really have a solid basis for immediately concluding that the vegetative matter on the window sill of the car was really contraband?” asks Monnat.
Freedom 1 Organization is the official spokesman for Samuel. The group said it is planning a protest soon in Winfield.
“Rudy is pretty shook up over this,” says Peter Wright with Freedom 1. “We are hoping to get this information out so this won’t happen to anyone else. Nowhere in this country.”
KSN has reached out to Winfield police for further comment.
“And I’m certainly aware of the video that’s online that involved our department,” said Winfield Police Chief Brett Stone. “And we train, we learn, we do conduct these traffic stops routinely. And certainly each traffic stop has facets to it depending on the nature of the call, the nature of the stop, the nature of what the infraction is. So, we do our best to adapt and adjust to those and conduct them safely and certainly within legal guidelines.”
See full story at KSN.com