Source: grahambedingfield / Getty
We can now add being a lawyer to the list of things that get you arrested while Black. Maryland attorney, Rashad James, says he was mistaken for a suspect and briefly detained by a sheriff’s deputy during a court proceeding earlier this month.
James told the Baltimore Sun that during his court appearance in Harford County District Court on March 6, deputies mistook him for his client, who is also Black and did not attend the hearing. He continued:
“This is actually the first time this has occurred to me, and I do not know of any colleagues who have had a similar experience. In the moment, it was sort of surreal in the sense that I guess it was just one of those unexpected things that I just did not anticipate.”
Rashad says he was the only Black attorney in the room, and police began asking him race based questions immediately. After checking the validity of his license multiple times, deputies finally let James go, 10 minutes later. Maryland Legal Aid says they’re “troubled by the deeply disturbing incident. There is no plausible explanation other than racial bias.”
James has filed a complaint with Harford County Sheriff’s office, and says he plans to carry business cards with him wherever he goes. SMH.
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