Okay, this is horrible, but I how did it even get this far?

Driving while Black is usually a charged as a misdemeanor, but there’s a felony enhancement for driving a nice car.

replace “black family” with “white male”

Doesn’t matter whether it was a white man or a black family. They shouldn’t be pulling their guns when there is no appreciable, objective risk from the target of their inquiry. And yes - before you approach a vehicle you think might be stolen, you should confirm that everything you entered was correct. It’s called due…

I think Body cameras are a great thing. Because they are showing the stupidity of arrogance of some cops.

Hmm, a few thoughts...

Way back in the day - when pocket calculators were a relatively new thing for the masses - I was taught that when an answer doesn’t make sense, to check the input. Garbage in: garbage out is an even bigger thing today than ever and it’s crazy that someone in this position of authority does not have that drilled into…

Exactly correct. The cops would not have had the family out of the car, would not have guns drawn, etc. This was a reaction based on race.

fix your mouth, dumbass

I ran your tag, it came back, associated essentially with no vehicle.

as mentioned in the article, the plate number they ran came back with nothing. So instead of double-checking they jumped to conclusion.

If it would have been a white family, they would have simply checked the papers and share a few jokes while another officer was double-checking.

But since it was a black family, they…

100% correct. As I commented elsewhere, at 19 I was pulled over in a E36 M3 I had purchased that day from a private party. No plates but had all the paperwork. I wasn’t even asked to exit the vehicle.

daaaaam...my bad

I am assuming they thought it was a fake plate, that would probably come up “invalid” as well. I don’t find this egregious compared to how US cops usually act.

The exchange when the female cop is explaining her mistake is why people think some cops are fucking idiots:

But WHY did they conclude it was stolen if when running the plate it comes back with “no information?”

From what I recall in another article, he ran the plate and it didn’t even come up as stolen, it came up as invalid, likely because the states use a different numbering format.  So it comes up as invalid and he jumps to the “it must be stolen” mode.

“Why do you need to do that if you thought you put in the right info?”

Even if we ignore the profiling (allegedly of the car), how does “that license plate doesn’t come up” immediately jump to “it must be stolen, hold this family at gunpoint” and not “huh, I wonder if I typed something in wrong” or “I should follow this car to a safe location that isn’t the side of a freeway to pull them…

You bootlicking gutter scum. If it were a white family, there would have been no guns drawn, nor handcuffing.