Sheriff Chuck Wright defends stop of Shaw University bus, says 'nothing to do' with racism
The Spartanburg and Cherokee Sheriff's Offices released the body camera footage of an Oct. 5 traffic stop of a bus containing Shaw University students and staff on Monday morning.
Shaw University is a historically Black university located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright and Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Mueller dismissed allegations of racial profiling and targeting the Shaw University personnel in the traffic stop.
The stop occurred in Spartanburg County but the search was conducted by Cherokee County deputies as part of Operation Rolling Thunder, an escalated week-long operation by the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, along with other agencies, to seize illegal contraband, including narcotics, illegal weapons, and cash, along Interstates 85 and 26. This year's operation seized almost $1 million in currency.
"I wish racism would die the ugly, cruel death it deserves. If anything we're ever doing is racist, I want to know it, I want to fix it, and I want to never let it happen again," Wright said. "But this case right here has absolutely nothing to do with racism."
Sgt. Terrell Allen and Sgt. Cody Painter, the Cherokee County officers who performed the stop, were both present at the press conference and spoke to the media, describing the stop as routine.
"When the complaint was first brought to our attention, we watched the video. There's absolutely no truth in any of the remarks made by the president of that university," Mueller said. "It is sad as a Sheriff we have to stand up and defend our men and women who do things right.'"
Shaw University President Dr. Paulette Dillard issued a statement Oct. 10 condemning the traffic stop. A spokesperson for Shaw said no further comment on the matter would be made by an university personnel while there is an ongoing investigation.
An Oct. 28 letter, signed by several North Carolina members of congress, wrote a statement to United States Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting an investigation into the "unfounded" stop-and-search, which "deeply troubled" them, citing prior instances of alleged improprieties by the Sheriff's Office.
In a word, I am “outraged.” This behavior of targeting Black students is unacceptable and will not be ignored nor tolerated. Had the students been White, I doubt this detention and search would have occurred. It's 2022. However, this scene is reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s—armed police, interrogating innocent Black students, conducting searches without probable cause, and blood-thirsty dogs. It’s hard to imagine. Yet, it happened to the Shaw University community, and it is happening throughout this nation in alarming fashion. It must be stopped.
Dr. Paulette Dillard, Shaw University President in an Oct. 10 statement to the Shaw community
Unfortunately, this is not the first allegation of racial bias against the Spartanburg County Sheriff’sOffice. In 2014, a Black former detention officer in the county filed a lawsuit — resulting in a settlement —claiming that the office used racial slurs and provided him with inadequate training compared to whitedeputies. In 2020, there was community outcry when Sheriff Chuck Wright said, “We had everyopportunity to kill two Black men and we did not do it,” while defending how deputies handled twoarrests. These incidents, coupled with the recent unfounded search of the Shaw students, indicate a needto further investigate the Sheriff’s Office.
A letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, signed by five members of U.S. Congress
Wright said Dillard has been contacted three times to view the footage of the stop.
"I've reached out to Dr. Dillard one time, Pastor [West Spartanburg NAACP president Eddie Parks] has reached out to her twice, so I know that's three times she's had the opportunity to come and stop all this," Wright said.
Shaw University bus stopped Oct. 5 during Operation Rolling Thunder. Here's what we know.
Nothing was found during the search and no students were asked to exit the bus. Wright said the bus, which was not a Shaw University bus, had tinted windows that made it impossible to see the bus passengers. Wright added 39 buses were stopped during Operation Rolling Thunder prior to the bus chartered by Shaw.
Wright dismissed Dillard's comments about his agency as "slanderous and libelous," and lauded the officers' conduct during the stop as "professional." He also said interactions between the officers and the passengers on the bus were very cordial.
Sgt. Cody Painter's body camera footage shows a sole K-9 sniffing luggage in the bus's cargo storage. After Painter searches a few bags and finds nothing, the traffic stop concludes with the bus driver receiving a warning for improper lane change.
"We're out there trying to do our job, make sure people are being safe. You can't see inside those buses, I'm sure everyone has seen them on the interstate, those windows are pitch-black," Painter said.
The topic of race relations, particularly concerning law enforcement, was addressed by Wright and the Cherokee County officials present.
"Someone in Dr. Dillard's position should be helping to bridge the racial divide in our country that we see each and every day, rather than fanning the flames of racial divide," Mueller said.
"The Jesus I serve doesn't see color, and neither do I," Allen said.
Wright said the incident will not impact the future of Operation Rolling Thunder.
More:Spartanburg County Sheriff Wright again highest paid county employee
2022 Operation Rolling Thunder data
⊳The race of the 803 people cited are as follows:
White - 315 (39.2%)
Black - 308 (38.4%)
Hispanic - 125 (15.6%)
Other - 55 (6.8%)
The bus chartered by Shaw was one of 144 total vehicles searched during Operation Rolling Thunder.
Wright said 39 buses prior to the Shaw bus were searched, and one bus yielded $500,000 and 2 kilograms of cocaine. ORT in total yielded $968,611 in currency seized.
Operation Rolling Thunder resulted in 38 total criminal cases and 22 felony arrests.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Shaw University bus search: Sheriff Chuck Wright defends stop
