Stanford University cop accused of pulling gun on Black driver. Investigation underway

Stanford University in California is investigating an interaction between university police and a Black man on campus after Tweets about the interaction went viral.

In a university statement, the Stanford Department of Public Safety said they were reviewing an incident from Jan. 28 “in which an officer unholstered his gun and pointed it at a car, driven by a Black individual, that had been stopped due to an outstanding warrant for the owner of the car.”

A Stanford Ph.D. candidate, Jessica Stovall, said she witnessed the traffic stop and posted a thread to Twitter describing the experience. The thread has garnered millions of views and thousands of reactions.

“Last night, around 11 pm, I was taking a mind clearing walk around Stanford’s campus and witnessed a white police officer draw a gun on a young Black man,” the thread began.

Stovall described a scene in which she heard someone say “put your hands up!” and saw a white Stanford police officer pointing a gun toward a Black driver. Stovall said it was a busy roundabout and there were people on the street and on bikes.

“The bikers exclaimed later that they were right in the line of fire,” she said in a Tweet.

Stovall said a group of people stood around and watched the officer interact with the Black man for a little while, but then the officer holstered his gun, and many walked away.

“The only people were left were a man across the street sitting at the bus stop bench, looking bored as he seemed to wait for the bus, and me,” she said in another Tweet.

Stovall said the Black man was released, but not after a long list of profanities and angry words were shouted at the police officers. She said before he got back in his car he shouted “And this is the land of the free for a Black man.”

The Black man then drove off before Stovall was able to check on him, she said.

“The man at the bus stop got up, and put his phone back in his pocket. He gave me a knowing look. He wasn’t waiting for a bus. He was waiting to see if he had to bear witness,” Stovall said on Twitter.

Stovall noted the timing of the incident, in the middle of a national debate over policing and in the wake of the murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee.

Five former Memphis officers have been charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols who was beat during a traffic stop Jan. 7 and died three days later. Three emergency medical technicians have been fired and two more police officers have been disciplined.

“(On Jan. 29), we got an email from Stanford, with the subject title ‘Message of care and concern regarding Memphis’ offering a ‘message of sadness, care, and hope.’ But what hope can we have if police are publicly drawing guns on Black people on our own campus in the night?” a Tweet from Stovall read.

Stanford launches investigation

One day later, Stanford released its statement saying it was investigating the incident

Stanford police said that “social media has carried accounts of a police interaction with an individual on the Stanford campus over the weekend,” and the account led to their investigation.

According to Stanford, a deputy was making routine rounds on campus when he noticed a car parked in front of a residence hall with tinted windows. The deputy shined a light on the car and was able to see a man in the front seat, reclined back with delivery packages in the back seat. The deputy approached the driver and spoke with him.

“The driver explained he was a delivery driver,” the statement said. “The deputy, prompted by recent concerns about package theft on campus, and not seeing any indication that the driver or the vehicle was associated with a delivery company, asked dispatchers to run the license plate number of the vehicle.”

The check showed an outstanding arrest warrant for DUI for the registered owner of the vehicle and that the registered owner had a suspended license. With this information, Stanford said a second deputy stopped the vehicle some time later in another campus location where they were then joined by the original deputy who made the request and a third deputy.

“When the driver did not comply with the directions to exit the vehicle, another deputy unholstered his gun and pointed it in the direction of the vehicle,” the statement said. “Further investigation then determined that the driver was not the registered owner of the car … and (he) was released from the scene.”

Stanford said they will continue to investigate the interaction and will keep the university community informed.

Many shared their own experiences with police in comments on Stovall’s Tweets.

“I’ve had guns drawn on me because of a supposed ‘suspended license’ with my four young children in the car. All turned out to be untrue but the fear invoked on my kids was palpable to this day,” one Tweet read. “Enough is enough.”

Missing 17-year-old girl is found frozen to death near crashed car, Wisconsin cops say

Dying woman found by Georgia road is identified 37 years later as Florida mom of four

Worried woman checking on grandson finds him among 3 bodies in Florida home, cops say

Armed man tries to rob Popeyes through drive-thru window, Tennessee video shows