A Maryland attorney has filed a complaint against the Hartford County Sheriff’s Office, claiming he was detained after being accused of impersonating a lawyer.
The incident, which Rashad James describes as “a very surreal moment,” occurred March 6 at Harford County District Court in Bel Air. James, who’s black, had just finished representing a client when a sheriff’s deputy stopped him and asked him if was really a lawyer — or just imitating one. James says even after he showed the deputy his identification, he wasn’t allowed to leave as the deputy called the attorney’s supervisor.
“If Mr. James were white, this would not have happened,” says Chelsea Crawford, James’ attorney. “It should have been enough when Mr. James appeared in court and the judge accepted on the record that he was an attorney and his client was absent. That should have been enough, and at that moment, it wasn’t for that officer.”
A rep for the sheriff’s office says the incident is “under investigation.”
Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/deputy-accused-racially-profiling-attorney_n_5c9cbae0e4b08c450cd24aa6
