Panthers Lineman Arrested For 'Driving While Black'

[Livinginthe past]

Well, you'll find racist people in just about walk of life - it just so happens that the police have the authority to affect your life based on those prejudices.

I can imagine that the 'tint level' of the windows could be a pretext to search the car, but either its breaking the law or its not.

A simple test on the tinting would tells us if it was below the legal limit - and they don't want police officers to apply that law - then scrap it.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Carolina Panthers reserve guard D'Anthony Batiste says his recent arrest on a weapons charge may have been racially motivated.

Batiste, a former deputy in Louisiana, was initially charged with carrying a concealed weapon after a search of his car during a traffic stop. Police had stopped Batiste's car, saying his window tint was too dark. On Friday, a Mecklenburg County judge threw out the charges, saying the arrest for a window tint violation was a pretext to search Batiste's car.

Batiste was fined $110 for failing to update his driver's license when he moved to North Carolina last fall.

"When the arrest happened, I called some of my supervisors back in Louisiana," Batiste told The (Rock Hill) Herald after leaving the courtroom Friday. "As soon as I'd explain it, all of them said 'D, something's not right about this.' We're all kind of under the impression I was arrested for driving while black."

Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department spokeswoman Julie Hill said that Batiste's arrest was not racially motivated. "He received no special treatment in that regard," she said.

Hill said the department has been cracking down on window tint violations because too dark windows block an officer's view of who is inside a car and can put the officer in a dangerous situation.

Batiste was arrested on March 25 when officer Bret Balamucki noticed the windows of Batiste's 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe were so dark "I couldn't see who was inside."

Balamucki said windows are supposed to have at least a 35 percent light transmission and Batiste's windows tested at 8.8 percent. Balamucki said he found the gun -- Batiste's service weapon from his days as a deputy with the Lafayette (La.) Parish Sheriff's Office -- during a search of the car.

Balamucki said Batiste was initially cooperative, but became frustrated and refused to answer questions.

Batiste said the arrest has shaken him.

"Right now, I don't know how I feel about the CMPD," Batiste said. "I feel bad, because this was an embarrassment to me, my family, my teammates and the whole organization, all because an officer was unwilling to show discretion."

[rbryan]

What are the odds of there being an NFL player up on a gun charge who was actually an ex cop?? lol

I seriously doubt D'Anthony was arrested because he was black, way to play the race card Einstein. It's already been established that your tint was so dark that no one could see you.

Was the gun registered? Article doesn't say. Seems like that would have been a good question. Ex cop or not if he's driving around with an unregistered weapon he broke the law.

[SteelersMongol]

He's an ex-cop and he's playing racial card? What a jacka$$.

[MasterOfPuppets]

i was pulled over about 10 yrs ago because of the tint on my windows.i was given a repair order and had 14 days to remove the tint and had to take my car to the state police barracks to show them it was removed. the last time i checked i was white as rice...

[SteelCityMan786]

I don't get the point of this one.

[TackleMeBen]

they passed the tint law in NC back in 1990 i believe. The law stated that if you had your windows tinted before the law was signed then you were grandfathered in. ( i know this b/c my brother had tinted windows on his car and he was grandfathered in). If you couldnt produce record of having your windows tinted before that then you would have to have it removed or lightened to fit the law.

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by SteelersMongol

He's an ex-cop and he's playing racial card? What a jacka$$.

Agreed!!!

[wharalson]

all i am saying is i lived in charlotte for four yearsand that was fours too long so if the shoe fits wear it and the cmpd do racial profiling,thats why my family and i relocated to florida and i am not white as rice.

[j-dawg]

does racial profiling exist? yes. did it happen here? can't say, none of us were there. i would think that since he was a cop, he'd have a rapport with the officer. so, yeah, part of me would think that this officer went to far. OR.. maybe D'Anthony was being disrespectful and it encouraged the officer to further exercise the law.

none of us know, 'cause none of us were there.

[xXTheSteelKingsXx]

Im just wondering what is the definition of a concealed weapon is? I mean do they consider it concealed if the cop cant see it (like in the back seat) or if is obviously hidden?