Over a four-year span, 28-year-old Earl Sampson has been stopped by police in Miami Gardens 258 times and searched over 100 times. According to the Miami Herald, his most serious offense during that period has been possession of marijuana.
He's also been arrested 62 times for trespassing outside of the 207 Quickstop. The trouble is, he works there.
207 Quickstop owner Alex Saleh says he's watched Miami Gardens police harass his black employees on a daily basis, occasionally up to three times a day. This led to Saleh installing 15 cameras in his store last June, with footage showing police stopping, searching and eventually arresting people for trespassing, even when they hadn't done anything wrong.
Furthermore, they frequently searched the 207 Quickstop without warrants and used what's described as excessive force on people who did not resist arrest. Both Saleh and attorney, Steve Lopez, are readying a civil rights lawsuit alleging that the police department instructed officers to profile, then illegally stop and search customers and employees.
The Miami Herald added that neither Miami Gardens Police Chief Matthew Boyd, nor City Manager Cameron Benson responded to various attempts to contact them.
[via USA Today and Miami Herald]
