Princeton University African American Studies professor took to Twitter to detail her arrest, which she called "humiliating and frightening"
PRINCETON - A Princeton University Professor said she was arrested Saturday due to a three-year-old parking ticket and mistreated by police.
File photoImani Perry, a professor of African American Studies at the university, said in social media postings Sunday and Monday she was stopped and arrested because she failed to pay a parking ticket, then mistreated.
"The police treated me inappropriately and disproportionately," Perry said in a lengthy Facebook post. "The fact of my blackness is not incidental to this matter."
Princeton police confirmed that Perry was arrested on Saturday. She was stopped for driving 67 mph on Mercer Street in a 45 mph zone around 9:30 a.m., Lt. John Bucchere said.
Police determined she was driving on a suspended license and a warrant had been issued for her arrest, Lt. John Bucchere said.
The $130 warrant was issued for an unpaid parking ticket, Bucchere said.
"Perry was taken into custody pursuant to the warrant which is mandated protocol and required by state law," Bucchere said in a statement.
Perry was issued tickets for speeding and for driving on a suspended license. She was released after posting bail, Bucchere said.
Perry, who was vocal about her arrest on Twitter and Facebook, did not return multiple requests for comment Monday.
Student sit-in demands changes for black students at Princeton U.Perry on Twitter said she was patted down by a male officer when a woman officer was available, was denied a phone call before her arrest and said she was handcuffed to a table at the police station.
Bucchere said Perry was told she could have as many phone calls as she wanted once she was at the police station and that she was handcuffed while in the police station, which is standard procedure.
Bucchere was not immediately clear on whether she was searched by a male officer when a woman officer was present.
"I cannot ever say definitively that this specific mistreatment was a result of race," Perry said. "But I can say that what I experienced was far more likely because my skin is a deep brown, my nose is round, and my hair is coily. And given the accumulation of police violence against Black people in this society, my fear at being stopped and arrested as a Black woman was warranted and even reasonable."
Perry called her arrest "humiliating and frightening" and invoked the arrests of other black women, notably Sandra Bland, a Texas woman who was arrested and found dead in her jail cell several days later.
"I am here," Perry said. "My life has not been ruined or destroyed. And I must admit I am somewhat ashamed that my story will get more attention than those of others who have experienced things far worse that merit our response."
Yesterday, on my way to work, I was arrested in Princeton Township for a single parking ticket three years ago...
-- Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016
The police refused to allow me to make a call before my arrest, so that someone would know where I was...
-- Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016
There was a male and a female officer, but the male officer did the body search before cuffing me and putting me in the squad car.
-- Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016
I was handcuffed to a table at the station.
-- Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016
At any rate, I was afraid. Many women who look like me have a much more frightening end to such arrests.
-- Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016
But the larger point is that I'm working to move from being shaken to renewing my commitment to the struggle against racism & carcerality.
-- Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016
Several people have asked. I am ok. A bit shaken but mostly a matter of fact feeling. This is just the tip of the iceberg, right?
-- Imani Perry (@imaniperry) February 7, 2016
Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.