A Michigan jury took nine minutes to clear the greatest white ally ever, who went to trial after an officer took umbrage with him blasting โFuck tha Policeโ in the presence of cops.
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According to M Live, James Webb, who is white, stopped at a Pontiac, Mich., BP gas station on June 5 when he noticed that an Oakland County Sheriffโs deputy had pulled over a black driver named Dejuante Franklin. As a โform of protest,โ Webb pulled up near Franklinโs car playing N.W.A.โs 1984 classic โFuck tha Policeโ and left it blaring while he went into the store.
โI went over there and played that song loud. I meant to do it to the officer but as a form of protest,โ Webb told Fox 2 News. โIt was already up but I turned it up louder. Didnโt mean no violence, nothing, as a complete form of protest.โ
Franklin said the music angered the deputy.
โThe cop was talking to me, handing me my ticket, and was like โis he playing that for me?โโ Franklin said. โI was like โI donโt know him, you ask him that question.โ He was like โIโm sick of this...Iโm going over there now.โโ
The officer followed Webb into the store and issued Webb a ticket for a noise complaint. In the police report, the officer specifically noted that the music was vulgar and offensive.
But instead of paying the ticket, Webb decided to fight the ticket in court, facing a higher fine of $500 and 93 days in jail. Luckily, someone tagged attorney Nicholas Somberg in Webbโs social media post about the story and Somberg decided to take the case pro bono.
โYou got people standing out here and youโre playing โFuck tha Policeโ cause Iโm sitting right here,โ said the offended deputy. โI donโt care if itโs any other rap song, heโs dropping the F-bomb and cursing and swearing, nobody wants to hear that.โ
But Somberg dismantled the officerโs reasoning, noting that the stock stereo in Webbโs 2004 Toyota Corolla couldnโt have possibly disturbed anyone, even the people who were trying to sleep at the BP gas station. Somberg also had video proof that the officer wasnโt necessarily offended by the word โfuck.โ
โThe police officerโs reasoning was that he said this music was vulgar,โ Somberg said in court. โAnd part of the vulgarity was that it used the F-word, but we had on the video that the first man the officer had pulled over; the officer is dropping F-bombs with him. So why is it OK for this man to hear the F-word but not other people?โ
The jury took less than 10 minutes to deliver a not-guilty verdict.
Neither the Oakland County Sherriffโs office nor the Policemanโs Benevolent Association held a charity fundraiser for Webb, even though this brave citizen was clearly out of fucks to give.
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