A well-loved 81-year black Supreme Court Judge is the latest in a series of totally innocent people of colour arrested or beaten by North American police.
Selwyn Romilly, who was the first black appointee to the British Columbia Supreme Court, was caught on camera being surrounded by five white cops, each of them 6 foot or taller, who handcuffed him and dragged him to a squad car, where he was held for several minutes before being released.
The Judge had apparently been mistaken for a 45-year-old man who had been spotted spitting in a public park.
Explaining the disparity between the age of the suspect and the age of the Judge, Sergeant Savage of Vancouver’s elite police division said:
“We know that suspects can wear disguises to look older or younger, and that they might trend to blend in with others to avoid capture. So it’s quite common to arrest someone who looks nothing like the perp. Mr Selwyn looks a bit like actor Samuel Jackson so we were expecting some potty language and were very disappointed at his polite demeanour.”
Black protest groups have demanded that the offices who arrested the Judge be sacked. Sergeant Savage responded:
“Here we go again. It’s not like we shot him or choked him to death. This is the usual total overreaction by the human rights brigade.”
