Writer and director Tyler Perry has called for racial profiling to be made a crime under federal law after he was pulled over and interrogated by two white police officers.
Police in Atlanta, Georgia, have now launched an investigation after Mr Perry, America’s highest paid entertainer, wrote a Facebook post alleging he was racially profiled.
In it he writes: ‘RACIAL PROFILING SHOULD BE A HATE CRIME INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI!!!
‘That way local government can’t make the decision on whether or not these people get punished.’
That missive went viral and now boasts more than 117,000 ‘likes’, 21,000 comments, and 12,000 shares.
Racial profiling is banned by the the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees the right to be safe from unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which requires that all citizens be treated equally under the law.
Mr Perry explained on Facebook that the incident began after he made a left turn from a far-right lane – a trick his bodyguards taught him to make sure he wasn’t being tailed.
Spotting the illegal move, two white Atlanta police officers pulled him over. Apparently they did not realise they had stopped one of the most famous men in the U.S.
Mr Perry, an actor, director, screen and playwright, producer, author and songwriter was last year named as the highest paid man in entertainment, earning $130 million between May 2010 and 2011 and beating Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg.
When Mr Perry told the officers he had made the turn to ensure he wasn’t being tailed, one allegedly asked: ‘Why do you think someone would be following you?’
But before he was able to answer, the second officer started ‘banging’ on his passenger side window, apparently taking issue with the window’s tint, Mr Perry told fans.
After Mr Perry wound down his window, that officer then reached inside the vehicle to try to snatch the keys, he claimed.
As both officers ‘badgered’ Mr Perry about why he thought someone may be following him, Perry said he recalled his mother’s advice.
He wrote: ‘My mother would always say to me, “if you get stopped by the police, especially if they are white policemen, you say ‘yes sir’ and ‘no sir’, and if they want to take you in, you go with them. Don’t resist, you hear me? Don’t make any quick moves, don’t run, you just go.”‘
At this point, Mr Perry said, with the officers becoming increasingly agitated, he began to feel unsafe and told them he wanted to get out of his car. ‘I wanted the passersby to see what was happening,’ he wrote.
But then a second police cruiser pulled up, and a black Atlanta policeman emerged. ‘He took one look at me and had that “Oh No” look on his face,’ Mr Perry wrote.
Allegations: Mr Perry’s Facebook post has over 117,000 likes, 22,000 comments and 12,000 shares
The black officer spoke ‘in a hushed tone’ to the two white officers, Mr Perry said. ‘After that, one of the officers stayed near his car while one came back, very apologetic,’ he added.
Mr Perry wrote: ‘I said all of that to say this: do you see how quickly this could have turned for the worse?’
Mr Perry was released, but news reports do not indicate whether he was cited for his illegal left turn or tinted windows.
Georgia law requires drivers to approach a left turn from ‘the extreme left-hand lane’ of a multi-lane road, Georgia Public Broadcasting reports.
Georgia law also makes it a misdemeanor to tint driver’s or passenger’s side windows under certain conditions, according to the state’s Department of Public Safety.
The Atlanta police department’s Office of Professional Standards is looking into Tyler Perry’s racial-profiling claims, E! News reports
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Tyler Perry‘s kingdom is on fire — and not in a good way … the Atlanta studio complex where his popular ‘Madea’ movies are shot caught fire Tuesday night.
9:30 PM PST — The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department just released a statement, claiming the fire was brought under control around 9:45 PM EST … just an hour after firefighters arrived.
