Convenience store worker sues Florida police for racial profiling after they stop him 258 times for TRESPASSING... at his own place of work

A Florida convenience store owner and his employee plan to sue the city of Miami Gardens and its police department for racial profiling after his employee was questioned by police 258 times, searched more than 100 times, jailed 56 times and arrested for trespassing 62 times.
Alex Saleh, the proprietor at the 207 Quickstop on Northwest 207 Street in Miami Gardens, said he has more than two dozen surveillance videos to support his case.
The employee at the centre of the controversy, Earl Sampson, 28, says police officers constantly harass him while he’s at work, sometimes two to three times a day, without any justified cause.
‘They’re always stopping me, going in my pockets, asking me for my ID, running my name,’ Sampson told CBS4. ‘I feel like I can’t even be in my own neighborhood anymore.’
In three separate instances on the video clips, police can be seen questioning the same man at the same location.
Sampson’s lengthy rap sheet is filled with minor infractions, including more than 60 citations for trespassing, mostly at the 207 Quickstop, where he works.
‘I’ve seen the outrageous police abusing people in the community. They’ve been treating the people wrong, Saleh said.

Proof: The proprietor at the 207 Quickstop on Northwest 207 Street in Miami Gardens, Florida, said he has more than two dozen surveillance videos to support his case

'Always stopping me': Sampson says the police are always going through his pockets, asking me for his ID and running name checks on him. 'I feel like I can't even be in my own neighborhood anymore,' he says

Shocking: In three separate instances on the video clips, police can be seen questioning Sampson at the store where he is at work

Saleh, Sampson and their attorney Steve Lopez plan to file a federal civil rights lawsuit soon against the police department.
The complaint will allege officers have been instructed to illegally stop and search citizens via racial profiling.

 

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‘They’re stopping people for no reason in front of the business. Anywhere. Illegally search people,’ Saleh told CBS4.
Mayor Oliver Gilbert said he would not comment on pending litigation, however just two weeks ago, following a string of recent shootings, Gilbert explained the city’s crime-reduction strategy.
‘The line is zero tolerance,’ Gilbert explained to Pastrana. ‘So if you break a law, you’re going to jail.’

'Abuse': The convenience store owner, Alex Saleh, says he has seen 'the outrageous police abusing people in the community. They've been treating the people wrong', he claims

Difficult: Sampson, 28, says it is hard for him to have a normal day at work without being stopped by police, sometimes the same ones at the same place, and in the same day

No reason: In this image, Sampson can be seen, bottom right, wearing black clothes, stocking up a fridge as an officer comes in and starts questioning him without any cause

But Sampson argues he has not broken the law the times he was stopped for trespassing at his place of employment.
Mayor Gilbert referenced a recent murder outside the Quickstop, but Saleh said the pattern and practice of profiling people was in place long before that shooting.
‘There in violence in Miami Gardens, but that doesn’t give them a right to violate people’s rights,’ Saleh explained.

Read more:

• Miami Gardens Store Owner Says Videos Show Cops Profiling - CBS Miami