Mediaboss Marketing

Officersat the Philadelphia Police Department got an unexpected delivery earlier this week.

Two members of the Pennsylvania chapter of Black Lives Matter showed up at the precinct on Tuesday and handed police officers pairs of mens underwear to protest a little known, yet unlawful, practice dubbed stop and fondle.

According a recent expose in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, for yearsblack and brown men in Philly havehad their pants lowered, patted down and rifled through during t pedestrian stops.

Yet, these searches, when conducted in public, are strictly prohibited by Police Department policy and state laws.

Invasive searches are only lawful if police officershave a reasonable suspicion that the suspect is hiding drugs or contraband and must beconducted in a police or medical building after the person has been arrested, NBC 10 reported. In addition, cops must seek approval from their superintendent.

Outraged by last weeks report of the illegal, and according to several courts, racially-driven searches, Philadelphia activist Asa Khalif delivered a loud and clear message outside the police precinct in Center City:

It is illegal to stop and frisk. It is illegal to go into someones underwear and touch their penis. Touch their buttocks. You think its common practice and its legal, but its not, he yelled in a megaphone, broadcasting the direct action on Facebook Live.

Questioned by the Daily News about lower ranking officers using these tactics, Capt. Sekou Kinebrew they were unknownto him and encouraged victims to file a complaint.

Not surprising for Khalif, who told NBC10 strip searches are so common, many people including higher ranking cops think they are legal.

Its standard police culture in black and brown neighborhoods, he said,likening the practice to sexual assault.

Its humiliating. Dehumanizing, he said. I understand the feeling of hopelessness. It brings up all types of issues with black youth especially.

One of the men interviewed by the Daily News told him that being strip searched by police forno apparent reason and without his consent, while he was dropping off his daughter at a relatives house felt likebeing raped:

Theyre out here, basically, going around sexually harassing people. Theyre doing what they want, he said.

While overall instances of stop-and-frisk have decreased in recent years,saystheAmerican Civil Liberties Union which has been monitoring illegal searches since 2011, the group issued arecent reportshowing that,when they do, Philadelphia police overwhelmingly stop people based on race.

In the second half of 2016, 77 percent of the people stopped and frisked were black or Latino, a group that makes up half of the citys population, the report says.

To address the issue, Khalif toldNBC 10he and other activists were volunteering to fund trauma counseling for the young men who have endured such an ordeal.He also said that he plans to disruptMayor Jim Kenney and Police Commissioner Richard Ross until the department changes its policies.

This is why we continue to fight in the Black Lives Matter movement, he said in the video. We do not accept the s**t that is happening in our communities. Were not going to tolerate racist ass police officers attacking black and brown people.

Here is the original post:
Black Lives Matter Activists Protest 'Stop and Fondle' Searches by Giving Cops Underwear - Heat Street