An unusual arrest has been made in Connecticut, with a university professor accusing a police officer of racism, only to be proved untruthful via an audiotape of the interaction, writes Fox News.
A Police Car. Image Credit: West Midlands Police (Flickr)
Minati Roychoudhuri, 32 has been charged with making a false police report. After being pulled over for driving in the wrong lane, she wrote a letter of complaint to the Commissioner of Public Safety.
Here is an extract from her complaint letter:
‘The policeman asked me if I could speak English and if I knew why he had stopped me. I said, “yes” to speaking English and “no” to why he had stopped me. He then asked me for my driver’s license and registration. He returned with an envelope and said that I could simply mail in the infraction.
The officer did not give me any reason as to why had stopped me. His asking if I could speak English shows that he had racially profiled me and was not able to give me a concrete reason for stopping me. Further, the officer had checked “Hispanic” in the race category in the infraction ticket. I am a Professor in English at Capital Community College, I teach about diversity and the negative impact of racial profiling, I have now become a target of the same insidious behavior!’
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Minati then signed a statement repeating the above accusations of racial profiling, however was then left redfaced when an audiotape emerged proving that the officer had NOT ask whether she spoke English, and he did fully explain why he had pulled her over.
Sec. 53a-157b. (Formerly Sec. 53a-157). False statement in the second degree: Class A misdemeanor.
(a) A person is guilty of false statement in the second degree when he intentionally makes a false written statement under oath or pursuant to a form bearing notice, authorized by law, to the effect that false statements made therein are punishable, which he does not believe to be true and which statement is intended to mislead a public servant in the performance of his official function.
(b) False statement in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.
The Capital Community College where Minati works has received complaints and calls to “fire the liar,” however, blogger Jonathan Turly has concerns over whether this is taking things too far:
‘My concern is that a professor made an allegation of profiling that could still be an honestly held belief (based on the minor infraction used to pull over her car). I am not saying that this was a valid belief in these circumstances. However, there is always a fear of a chilling effect on people coming forward to express such views.
On the other hand, her statement did indeed appear to have false elements despite swearing to their accuracy.’
For a full transcript of the interaction between Minati and the police officer, check out Jonathan Turley’s blog.
For more on this story, head to Fox News.
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