In a letter titled 'The End,' Princeton professor Imani Perry says she's done talking publicly and that she never claimed racial bias by police Watch video
PRINCETON - The Princeton University professor who denounced her treatment by Princeton police when she was arrested on an outstanding warrant over unpaid parking tickets, has written what she says is her final statement on the matter saying that she never alleged racial bias.
"I do not intend to speak on this incident in public any longer,'' Imani Perry wrote in a letter titled "The End."
"In the past several days I have found myself hampered in my regular political and intellectual engagements as a result of the public focus on this incident and in particular the focus on me," Perry wrote. "This is not an orientation I embrace. I'm a thinker and a writer, not a celebrity."
Perry, a professor of African American Studies, said in the letter that she never claimed that there was racial bias was at work in her particular arrest.
"We have evidence that warrants for violations are issued across the country in racially discriminatory fashion," Perry wrote. "This makes it even worse: it is both unjust and unjustly applied. Note: I have never said that in my case that there was necessarily racial bias at work. I could not possibly know whether that was at issue. But I do know that I belong to the racial group to which this happens more frequently than any other."
Prosecutor: Cops should be 'commended' in Princeton professor arrest
In a previous letter, which she posted to her Facebook page, Perry said:
"I was treated inappropriately and disproportionately. The fact of my blackness is not incidental to this matter.''
Perry did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
Perry was pulled over on Mercer Road in Princeton around 9:30 a.m. Feb. 6 for driving 67 mph in a 45 mph zone. Police found that she was driving on a suspended license and she had a 3-year-old outstanding warrant for her arrest stemming from two unpaid Princeton parking tickets she received in 2012, according to police.
Perry was arrested, handcuffed, and taken back to the police station, where she remained handcuffed until she paid her fines and was released, police have said.
Perry took to social media to denounce her arrest and her treatment at the hands of Princeton police in several Twitter messages immediately following the incident.
Later last week, however, citing ongoing harassment and hacking fears, she closed her Twitter account. She temporarily re-opened it to release her latest letter. The account was again closed Tuesday morning.
Princeton police last week released dash camera video of the arrest, prompting members of the Princeton Council to buy the officer's lunch.
Perry said in her letter the video does not show everything.
The Mercer County Prosecutor's office said its review of the incident had not found any wrongdoing and that it was up to Perry to re-schedule a meeting that she canceled last week to press her case about unfair treatment.
"Unless Perry comes forward with additional evidence, the case will be closed by a finding exonerating the officer," First Assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Doris Galuchie said, adding that evidence so far shows that Princeton police should be "commended, not criticized," after the arrest.
It was unclear Tuesday morning whether another meeting had been scheduled or if the prosecutor's office had closed the case.
Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.