Over the weekend, Philadelphia’s head of LGBTQ affairs and her husband were detained by police in a disturbing arrest that was caught on camera. Now, the city’s District Attorney Office is investigating the incident.
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Celena Morrison—who serves as the executive director of the City’s Office of LGBT Affairs—filmed her husband Darius McLean being arrested on the Vine Street Expressway.
Many on social media are asking if race is to blame because the couple is Black—but we know the answer to that. In the shocking clip, Morrison can be heard on video saying “that is my husband” over and over as McLean is forced on the ground. Morrison then tries to plead the pair’s case by saying, “I work for the mayor.”
McLean then stated, “It’s cause I’m Black” in the clip. The unidentified trooper retorted with “It’s not cause you’re Black.” The police report, which was obtained by CNN, stated that the couple was resisting arrest at the time of the traffic stop.
The stop occurred with the driver of the grey Infiniti sedan because of “multiple Vehicle Code violations,” according to the report. It also stated the person driving the vehicle became “verbally combative” when the trooper approached the vehicle. Neither Morrison or McLean were identified as the driver.
“The individual refused multiple lawful orders made by the trooper, and the trooper subsequently attempted to place the individual under arrest. The individual resisted arrest on multiple occasions,” according to the report.
In addition, in a news release police stated: “Prior to the trooper making contact with the operator of the Infiniti, a green Dodge sedan arrived at the location of the traffic stop and parked behind the trooper’s patrol vehicle. The trooper approached the Dodge and the operator of the vehicle became verbally combative toward the trooper.”
Philadelphia mayor Cherelle L. Parker released a statement on X/Twitter about the incident. “A video circulating on social media that depicts a portion of the incident is very concerning to me, and I will have no further comment until the investigation has been completed.”
Currently, state police are investigating. The trooper who can be seen in the video will not be on patrol while the investigation is being conducted. The Philadelphia district attorney’s office is also looking into the arrests and encourage anyone with any information to come forward.
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