*61-year old Karle Robinson had reportedly been moving furniture into his new home for over 12 hours in Tonganoxie, Kansas when police rolled up and suspected they’d caught him in the act of robbing the joint.
Robinson, a retired military veteran, says he was confronted by an officer at around 2:30 am. At that time, he was trying to carry a large television.
“I could use a hand with this,” he even told the officer who approached him, the Kansas City Star reports. Robinson tried explaining that he’s a new homeowner moving in and offered to provide identification and paperwork to prove it. However, the body camera shows the officer handcuffed Robinson and treated him like a burglary suspect as the officer waited for backup.
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‘Handcuffed on my own property’: Video shows black homeowner questioned by Kan. police
“When the police car’s headlights lit up his driveway, Karle Robinson was resting his body against the top of his… https://t.co/bPJAJAZKvc
— The Clarion Call (@ClarionCallNow) October 9, 2018
“If I’d been a white man, you know that wouldn’t happen,” Robinson told the Star. “I’m being handcuffed right here on my own damn property.”
Believing that the officer’s actions were racially-charged, Robinson filed a complaint against the police department. But Tonganoxie Police Chief Greg Lawson believes the officer did nothing wrong.
“If I were on that call, by myself, no matter the race of the person, they would have been handcuffed,” Lawson said, adding that Robinson was out there “at three in the morning” and that there have been several reports of break-ins in the area lately.
“That’s a lie,” Robinson said, noting that he asked neighbors have there been any break-ins lately and they said there weren’t.
Robinson believes that because he is Black, “you’re guilty until proven innocent.”
“They’re thinking I’m stealing,” he added. “I’ve been hearing this for 40 years — getting pulled over, being searched. I’m not going to let this go.”
The body cam footage shows two other officers eventually arrive on the scene and once they saw documentation proving he was really moving in, they let Robinson out of handcuffs and apologized.
In the end, officers also helped him carry the TV inside his house.
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