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Tyler Perry Claims He Was Racially Profiled by Police

The movie titan decries racist policing policy.

Was Tyler Perry a potential victim of racial profiling by Atlanta police?

 

On his Facebook page, the movie mogul recalled the night he drove from his studio and made an illegal turn, a maneuver to ensure he was not being followed. Spotted by an officer, Perry was pulled over, questioned about the turn and why he thought he was being followed.

 

According to Perry, before he could answer, a second officer was banging on the passenger window because it was tinted. “Why do you think someone is following you?” asked the second officer. “What is wrong with you?”

 

The hostile questioning continued, Perry said, until a third officer, who was Black, arrived on the scene. “He took one look at me,” Perry wrote, “and had that ‘Oh No’ look on his face. He immediately took both officers to the back of my car and spoke to them in a hushed tone. After that, one of the officers stayed near his car while one came back, very apologetic.”

 

After citing two other racial profiling cases, including the high-profile death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, Perry ended his piece by stating emphatically: “RACIAL PROFILING SHOULD BE A HATE CRIME INVESTIGATED BY THE FBI!!!”

 

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(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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