Arkansas State Trooper Steven Payton |
Russ Racop
August 21, 2020
Marion Humphrey, Jr. was moving back from law school in Fayetteville in a rented U-Haul to Little Rock to complete law school via on-line classes.
Near the 81 mile marker, ASP Trooper Steven Payton pulled Humphrey over on a manufactured pretext.
Here are Humphrey's own words about what transpired:
This is a copy of the citation that was issued to Humphrey.
Humphrey also posted this:
Humphrey's father is retired Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Marion Humphrey.
We have requested the audio/video recordings of the traffic stop and will post them upon receipt.
We asked the Troop J Captain and the State Police Director for comments. No responses at the time of publication.
Stay tuned for updates.
***UPDATE - 08/21/20 2:30PM***
Apparently the ASP needs time to concoct a story:
***UPDATE - 08/21/20 3:30 PM***
Turns out that Trooper Payton is no stranger to stepping off into the shitstorm.
Back in 2011 when he was a cop in Dover, AR, he was involved in an excessive violence incident that resulted in a lawsuit and settlement that cost the city of Dover and other defendants $225K.
For that story click here.
***UPDATE- 08/21/20 5:50 PM***
The ASP finally provided a comment:
Why the ASP hired this train wreck of a cop with all the baggage he had is a question the ASP will be asked to answer.
Wonder how much they will be out after they settle with Humphrey?
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We obtained the video of the pretextual traffic stop.
It's interesting to note that Trooper Payton drove at speeds exceeding 100 mph, with no blue lights on, after seeing a black man driving a moving van.
Trooper Payton was overly concerned and suspicious that Humphrey appeared to be nervous about being pulled over for driving while black.
Really?
We suspect most all black men pulled over by cops for no apparent reason should be very fucking nervous. All too often, these pretextual stops end in the death of the driver or passenger.
source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/us/leland-melvin-nasa-astronaut-scn-trnd/index.html
We also found out that a couple of other law enforcement agencies were called in in anticipation of a big drug bust.
They tore up Humphrey's possessions and the truck and found nothing.
Nothing.
We hope this example of corrupt law enforcement behavior results in legal action that causes proper training and vetting of the invividuals that have a liscense to kill.