A new lawsuit has been filed against Prince George’s County and two officers of the Prince George’s County Police Department, after a Black man alleged his civil rights were violated during an April 2022 traffic stop. Lawyers representing the man alleged he was a victim of police brutality, claiming that at least one officer put a gun to his head while he was being detained.
On Thursday, Aug. 11, Malik Z. Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice conducted a news conference on behalf of Umar Ali, a 21-year-old man, who the lawyer says was “illegally detained and falsely arrested,” on Sunday, April 3, at a checkpoint along Sweitzer Lane after leaving a car show in Laurel, Maryland, early in the morning, WUSA 9 reports.
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The focus of the conference was to announce a new lawsuit naming Prince George’s County and two PGPD officers as defendants. The claim includes one count of false imprisonment/false arrest and one count of assault and battery based on the officers’ conduct on that day, adding that Prince George’s County was negligent in not properly giving training and supervision that could have prevented the violent engagement.
“Untrained and rogue officers from Prince George’s County, completely disregarded reasonable procedures to substantiate that Mr. Ali was within his lawful rights to possess his firearm; and they proceeded and treated Mr. Ali like a criminal,” Shabazz stated in a press release.
He stated by doing so, he “completely embarrassed and humiliated Umar Ali in front of a crowd of spectators.”
The arrest was captured on video. A bystander filmed 1:56 minutes of the officers seemingly violating Ali.
“An officer pointed a gun directly in Mr. Ali’s face, another team besieged him and handcuffed him, drug him out of his vehicle, and sat him on a nearby curb like an animal,” the lawyer continued, before saying, “Officers then forced Mr. Ali to walk some distance, and he was forced to pass a gauntlet of County officers who jeered and insulted him, presuming him guilty of some crime. Mr. Ali was then arrested, placed in a County Police car, and driven off to the police station.”
The attorney claims officers became hostile to his young client after he announced he was a registered gun, presented his firearm permit, and had a Glock-17 concealed in his car.
Shabazz argues this is about “the rights of a Black gun owner.”
Pointing to the actual permit, the lawyer said at the press conference the police failed to follow instructions that told them “Please contact Maryland Guns Center prior to any law enforcement action.”
