A Juno-nominated musician says he was the victim of racial profiling when two Montreal police officers stopped him, and threatened to arrest him, as he drove his BMW.
Freddie James says the three police officers involved were targeting him because he is black. He now plans to file racism complaints the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the police ethics commissioner.
“Some people on the police force have their own rules,” James said at a news conference on Wednesday.
James says the officers pulled him over in his BMW and asked him if the vehicle belonged to him. He says they then asked for his identification, at which point James asked why he had been stopped.
Montreal Police confirmed that James was pulled over, but would not comment further on the case because no formal complaints had yet been submitted.
But, according to James, the police officers became physical after he refused to show them his ID.
“They pulled me out of the car, hands behind my back… Walked me to the back of their police car, pushed me on, said ‘You’re under arrest,’” he said.
James came out of the situation with a $162 ticket for refusing to provide identification to police.
James says he’s ready for the potentially lengthy legal process of filing racial profiling complaints because the cause is important to him.
“I want people to know that it doesn’t matter how wealthy you are or how well you live your life, that people of colour – we have to be careful,” James said.
James spoke to reporters Wednesday alongside his mother, race relations advocate Fo Niemi and Joel Debellefeuille, who won a landmark racial profiling case in Quebec in 2012.
Debellefeuille, a business owner, was stopped by two police officers in 2009 while driving his family around in his BMW. His ensuing racial profiling complaint spent three years in court and ended with a reprimand for the officers involved.
“He had experienced almost the identical situation that I had,” Debellefeuille said of James. “The officers in question obviously need to get some more training.”
The Center for Research-Action on Race Relations spearheaded Debellefeuille’s case and will help James file his complaints as well.
“We want to know exactly what happened, what was said on the night when the officer called for backup,” said Fo Niemi, co-founder and executive director of the CRARR.
James maintains there was no reason for the officers to pull him over.
James was born in Chicago and moved to Montreal with his family at the age of 10, according to his website. Four years later, the then-14-year-old musician received two Juno nominations, including Single of the Year consideration for his disco hit “(Everybody) Get Up and Boogie.”
He continues to tour and perform around the world.
With files from CTV Montreal
