Education

Prosecutor Finds No Police Misconduct In Princeton Professor’s Racism Claim

Font Size:

A local prosecutor has determined that a pair of Princeton, N.J. police officers did nothing wrong — and, in fact, deserve commendations — for their role in a traffic stop involving Imani Perry, an African American studies professor at Princeton University.

The two police officers busted Perry last Saturday morning for going 67 miles per hour in a zone where the posted speed limit is 45 miles per hour. The officers proceeded to arrest Perry because she had an outstanding warrant for a $130 parking ticket from three years ago.

In a 1,201-word Facebook rant, Perry claimed that the cops treated her “inappropriately and disproportionately,” in part because she is black. She also tweeted angrily about her arrest, but she has since suspended her entire Twitter account.

On Friday, the Mercer County, N.J. prosecutor’s office released the results of a preliminary investigation into Perry’s claims which concluded that the officers had done nothing wrong.

“Based upon that review, the officer’s conduct is to be commended, not criticized,” assistant prosecutor Doris Galuchie said, according to The Daily Princetonian.

The investigation relied on various pieces of evidence including — critically — a dashcam arrest video showing two of the nicest-appearing police officers you’d ever hope to meet straining to be nice. (VIDEO: Dashcam Shows Princeton Professor Who Cried Racism Experienced STAGGERINGLY CORDIAL Arrest)

“It is imperative to note that everything Perry claimed before the video came out is simply not true,” Galuchie explained, according to the Princeton newspaper. “What happened to her had nothing to do with her race and everything to do with her driving 20 or more miles over the speed limit while her license was suspended and she had warrants out for her arrest.”

“Unless Perry comes forward with additional evidence, the case will be closed by a finding exonerating the officer,” Galuchie also said.

Perry had complained that police did not allow her to make any telephone calls before she was officially placed under arrest. She said she was rudely subject to a brief frisking for weapons. She swore she was handcuffed to a table at the police station.

“This was my first time in handcuffs,” Perry wrote. “They were very cold on my arthritic wrists. I have been thinking about how vulnerable they make you feel.”

Perry also said her race was partly to blame for the incident.

“Now, make no mistake, I do not believe I did anything wrong,” she wrote on Facebook. “But even if I did, my position holds. The police treated me inappropriately and disproportionately. The fact of my blackness is not incidental to this matter.”

Meanwhile, Perry — who was so verbose before the dashcam video was revealed — announced on Friday that she no longer wishes to speak about her arrest.

“I do not intend to speak on this incident in public any longer,” Perry wrote in her latest 1,284-word statement, entitled “The End.”

The 43-year-old African-American studies professor claimed she never alleged any racial bias — despite writing in her lengthy Facebook diatribe “The fact of my blackness is not incidental to this matter.”

Perry also previously wrote: “We already know it IS the standard protocol for people in poor Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities to experience disproportionate police surveillance, harassment, violence, and punishment. That is the graver injustice. I’m asking you to understand that my experience, and my feelings, are directly and intimately tied to that larger truth.”

In her original Facebook rant, Perry further cites institutionalized racism “from elementary school suspensions, to car purchases, to teachers recommending students for gifted and talented programs, to how often waiters visit your table in restaurants, to mortgages, to police stops and arrests.” (RELATED: Princeton Professor RAGES After Cops Arrest Her Due To Outstanding Warrant…For Parking Ticket)

“I can say that what I experienced was far more likely because my skin is a deep brown, my nose is round, and my hair is coily,” Perry also claimed.

In her latest declaration, however, Perry writes: “I have never said that in my case that there was necessarily racial bias at work. I could not possibly know whether that was at issue. But I do know that I belong to the racial group to which this happens more frequently than any other.”

Perry also said that the dashcam video and other available evidence fail to demonstrate the real truth of what she experienced.

“While I disagree with a number of the statements made by the Princeton Police about what transpired, and the video footage that the police chose to share with the general public failed to show most of what I objected to, a dispute over details is a distraction from the focus I have had from the start,” she explains.

In addition to the Princeton traffic troubles which led to her brief arrest, Perry has an active Abington Township, Pa. traffic case in which she drove an unregistered automobile, according to Planet Princeton.

The Princeton professor also has an outstanding summons for failing to pay a parking ticket in Lower Merion, Pa.

Other than her lengthy Friday statement called “The End,” Perry has not responded to press inquiries.

She has recently taken a sabbatical from her Princeton position, according to CentralJersey.com. It’s not clear if the sabbatical is related to her arrest, or her complaints about her arrest.

Follow Eric on TwitterLike Eric on Facebook. Send education-related story tips to erico@dailycaller.com.