28-year-old Earl Sampson of Miami Gardens, Florida has been stopped and questioned by police in his hometown 258 times in just four years, searched more than 100 times and arrested on 56 occasions, per the Miami Herald.
So what has Sampson done to have the police so focused on keeping him in their sights? According to the news organization, the most serious conviction for Mr. Sampson has been possession of marijuana.
The vast majority of Sampson’s arrests are for trespassing and nearly all of those occurred at the 207 Quickstop — the convenience store where he’s employed as a clerk.
Here’s a report filed by CBS Miami:
The store’s owner, Alex Saleh, installed multiple video cameras in his store back in June of 2012, not for the protection of his store against criminals, but instead to keep track of the police he believes are racially profiling Sampson, other African-American employees and customers who frequent his business.
Saleh has compiled videos that show cops aggressively stopping and searching people, arresting them for trespassing in places in which their presence would not present a violation and using what certainly appears to be excessive force on citizens who are not resisting arrest.
This clip shows Sampson getting arrested after taking the garbage out at work:
And here are additional videos made by Mr. Saleh:
Saleh, along with his attorney Steve Lopez, is preparing a federal civil rights lawsuit in which he claims the police department routinely directed officers to engage in illegal stops and searches and racial profiling.
Neither Miami Gardens Police Chief Matthew Boyd or City Manager Cameron Benson replied to multiple phone messages and emails requesting comment from the Miami Herald. Mayor Oliver Gilbert told CBS Miami that he wouldn’t comment on a pending investigation but had previously cited a murder that happened in the vicinity of the store in defense of the city’s zero-tolerance enforcement policy.
Saleh argues that what has been happening at the store was occurring well before the murder. He acknowledged there is violence in Miami Gardens but that this did not justify what he’s witnessed at his place of business.
Store owner Alex Saleh
Sampson said, “I feel like I can’t even be in my own neighborhood no more. They say on the car you’re supposed to protect and serve. But you’re not protecting and serving, you’re harassing.”
