A conductor of a music band of an American football team has been arrested in Alabama (USA) after ignoring the Policewho had asked him to stop his musicians’ performance after a game at a high school.
The events occurred last Thursday at Jackson-Olin High School, located in the city of Birminghamafter the match between the team from this educational center against that of the Minor secondary school. The visiting team won the match and, behind him, their bands continued playing music in celebration.
Birmingham Police (BPD) officers began cleaning the stadium when “bands from both schools continued to play,” police spokesman Truman Fitzgerald said in a statement seen by the police. cnn. The authorities spoke to the directors of the groups and asked them to stop playing music.”for students and attendees to leave the stadium“, according to the statement.
The home team’s band ceased activity instantly, but Minor’s band director, Johnny Mims, did not stop and “He ordered his band to continue playing“, according to Birmingham Police. It was at this precise moment that officers intervened to arrest Mims for “disorderly conduct” when a “fight broke out between the principal, Birmingham City School System staff and BPD officers,” the report states, as Mims refused to let his band stop playing music.
As can be seen in a video spread on social networks and collected by CNN itself, you can see the moment in which an officer shoots Mims with a Taser, when he resisted arrest. “The arresting officer then subdued the gang director with a Taser, ending the physical confrontation,” police said. Several spectators from the game also appear in the sequence, screaming when the director falls to the ground after being shot.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue treated Mims at the scene and it was the Police themselves who treated him. transferred to the University of Alabama Hospital to be evaluated by a health team. After his release, police said officers took him to the Birmingham City Jail, where he was booked and then released on bail. Officers obtained arrest warrants for disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest, police said.
For her part, Juandalynn Givan, Mims’ lawyer, has considered the altercation a “abuse of power” and a “violation of civil rights”. “It is unacceptable for authorities to apply autonomous rules on the playing field or with respect to gang activities unless there is a significant threat to the safety of the general public,” he said in a statement.
Now, the Birmingham Police Internal Affairs division is investigating what happened. “We are aware of the incident that occurred after the Minor and Jackson-Olin football game,” Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin said in a statement to US broadcaster WBRC. “I am in the process of gathering all the facts and believe it would be inappropriate to comment further until the process is complete. I urge everyone not to jump to conclusions“he alleged.