Picture credit: @sebbarros
One night, I woke up to the sound of banging. Someone was trying to kick down the door. I was with my friend - who I know is strong and fearless - even he was clearly worried. They didn’t announce themselves. We had no idea who was at the door. Instinctively, I decided to run and jump out of the window.
As I hit the floor my knees flew into my chest. I looked up to see a very built man waving what I thought initially was a machete. Instinctively, I ran off. After a short dash and being dropped to the floor, I was swarmed by these people. They dragged me and kicked me once in the ribs. I told them “relax, I'm not causing no problem.” Then, they put my arm behind my back in a way similar to police. That’s when it dawned on me that they were undercover police officers.
They dragged me across the floor and I had cuts on my hands and knees. One of the officers then proceeded to move me by using his legs to roll me onto my back. They found drugs on me and I was arrested. I was confused by the joy in their faces. They were elated at my arrest. But every time they showed these emotions they would turn off their cameras. This showed me that they knew what they were doing wrong. One of the officers, whose birthday was the next day, called me “the best birthday present ever.”
Despite all they were saying to aggravate me and as much as I wanted to respond, I genuinely couldn’t. I had no energy. I was in serious pain. The officers kept making fun of me being in pain and belittling me. I felt so alone and I didn’t even have the voice for myself to speak. They kept saying “have fun in jail” and just did as much as they could to get a reaction from me.
After being in the cells and piecing together information from my solicitor, other people present and the officers themselves, I believe their arrest was unlawful. They racially profiled me as someone else and instantly identified me as a ‘drug dealer’. They intimidated someone else who they believed left the address and belittled him, calling him a crackhead.
Here is what really happened. They stood outside the door waiting for it to open so they could force their way in without breaking the door. When that opportunity came, the door was closed in their face. Without a warrant, they tried to force entry again, this time on declaration that they were police. In their reports, they said that I was 100% the person who opened the door to them, with a spliff in my mouth, walked out of the premises and ran back in when I saw them, enabling them to force entry. This is false. I don’t even smoke. I broke one law. They broke several. They committed burglary, assault, harassment and perverting the course of justice. Who was really in the wrong?