Current:Home > ScamsPhiladelphia LGBTQ leaders arrested in traffic stop the mayor calls ‘concerning’ -Streamline Finance
Philadelphia LGBTQ leaders arrested in traffic stop the mayor calls ‘concerning’
View
Date:2025-04-13 00:58:42
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The arrest of two of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ leaders by a state trooper during a fraught highway traffic stop is “very concerning,” the city’s mayor said after a video showing some of what happened circulated on social media.
Celena Morrison leads the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs and is a top aide to Mayor Cherelle Parker. Morrison’s husband, Darius McLean, runs a community center. Both are Black, while the Pennsylvania state trooper appears to be white.
“I don’t know why he’s doing this,” McLean cries to his wife Saturday morning as she records him being handcuffed, lying on his side, on the shoulder of the elevated highway during a rainstorm. Cars pass by a few feet away.
“It’s ‘cause I’m Black,” McLean says.
“It’s not ’cause you’re Black,” replies the trooper, who leaves McLean handcuffed on the highway shoulder and then moves to arrest Morrison.
“Turn around! Give me your hands or you’re getting Tased!” the trooper tells her as she says she works for the mayor. She apparently drops the phone at that point, and the video shows only the gray sky above.
Both Morrison, 51, and McLean, 35, were detained on obstruction and resisting arrest charges after the 9 a.m. traffic stop. However, District Attorney Larry Krasner did not immediately file the charges while he investigates.
“A video circulating on social media that depicts a portion of the incident is very concerning to me,” the mayor said in a statement, adding that she will wait until the investigation concludes before saying more.
State police, which patrol the state highway that cuts through the city, declined to identify the trooper, but said he was put on restrictive duty Monday and will not be on patrol while the incident is investigated. The trooper’s patrol unit does not yet have body cameras, and the agency declined to release dashboard camera video.
In the cellphone video posted online, the trooper says he stopped Morrison for tailgating and not having lights on. McLean, chief operating officer of the William Way LGBT Community Center, apparently pulled over in a second vehicle and was arrested after allegedly arguing with the officer.
“Do you want to get tased? Put your hands behind your back!” the trooper shouts as he stands over him on the roadway.
“They are! They are!” McLean cries.
“I don’t know who you are so I don’t need someone rolling up on me,” the trooper says.
“That is my husband ... That’s my husband, please,” Morrison can be heard saying out of view. “I work for the mayor. I work for the mayor.”
Morrison, who is transgender, has held the position since 2020, staying on when Parker took office in January.
Chris Bartlett, executive director of the William Way Center, called the traffic stop “unjust” in a post on the group’s social media site and said the center “was working with officials to remedy this terrible situation.”
veryGood! (6714)
Related
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- 4-year-old run over by golf cart after dog accidentally rests on pedal
- Montgomery police say 4 active warrants out after brawl at Riverfront Park in Alabama
- Penguins land 3-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson in trade with Sharks, Canadiens
- A steeplechase record at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Then a proposal. (He said yes.)
- Moving to a college dorm? Here's how you can choose a reliable mover and avoid scams
- USWNT ousted from World Cup: Team USA reels from historic loss to Sweden
- Why Roger Goodell's hug of Deshaun Watson was an embarrassment for the NFL
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Boating this summer? It's important to take precautions—bring these safety items
Ranking
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Death toll from train derailment in Pakistan rises to 30 with 90 others injured, officials say
- In a first, naval officers find huge cache of dynamite in cave-like meth lab run by Mexican drug cartel
- Dirt bike rider dies in crash at Maine motocross park
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Three Stories From A Very Hot July
- How small changes to buildings could save millions of birds
- Storms spawning tornadoes in America's Heartland head for East Coast: Latest forecast
Recommendation
US auto safety agency seeks information from Tesla on fatal Cybertruck crash and fire in Texas
Ne-Yo Apologizes for Insensitive and Offensive Comments on Gender Identity
At least 3 dead in bus crash on Pennsylvania interstate, authorities say
Woman accuses Bill Cosby of drugging, sexually assaulting her in the '80s
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
Here's how 3 students and an abuse survivor changed Ohio State's medical school
'Loki' season 2 is nearly here—here's how to watch
Israel kills 3 suspected Palestinian militants as West Bank violence shows no signs of slowing