Black Gun Owners Unfairly Targeted By Chicago Police

I know this is going to come as a shock to some of you, but the police be lying. 

We’ve told y’all this before. More than once, in fact. It appears that no matter how many times we provide examples of how corrupt, inept, and just plain evil law enforcement (and those masquerading as law enforcement while wearing masks, driving unmarked cars without license plates, and kidnapping innocent people off of our city streets absolutely unchecked) can be, some will die on the hill of “back the blue” or “protect the blue” or “blue lives matter” or whatever other dumb slogan y’all come up with to show your undying allegiance to people who would shoot you too if you got on their bad side.

 When it comes to police departments that need to be called out for their repeated acts of violence followed by corrupt coverups of said violence, the Chicago Police Department is high on the list of law enforcement agencies that can’t seem to get enough of corruption, extrajudicial violence, and murder. 

In the “disappointed but not surprised” section of our news coverage today, we report that a recent CBS News Chicago investigation revealed that the city’s police officers have been going around stopping Black drivers for minor traffic offenses, asking them if they are carrying a gun, and when the Black drivers answered ‘yes’ and provided proof that they could legally carry the guns, the cops arrested them anyway and charged them with felonies for possessing the guns that they are legally allowed to have. 

You read that correctly. People who were legally licensed to carry a firearm were arrested and charged with carrying the firearms, and according to a source within the Chicago Police Department, the officers are doing this for personal gain. 

In CBS News Chicago’s initial investigation, they reported on Louis McWilliams, a Tinley Park resident and business owner, who was pulled over for a “missing front license plate.”

Police body camera video shows that after the police stopped him, the first thing he did was tell the officers he had a gun in the car. 

According to Illinois state law, in order to legally carry a gun in your car, you need a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card and a concealed carry license (CCL). CBS News Chicago reviewed McWilliams’ firearm license and confirmed it was valid. 

The arrest report also acknowledged he was in possession of his card at the time of the stop. McWilliams can even be seen handing it to the officer in the video, and he said he was expecting that to be enough. 

But it wasn’t.  

When an officer pulls over a driver, it’s standard practice to check a database operated by the Illinois State Police, called LEADS. If the driver has a gun on them, or in the car, it’s also common for officers to check LEADS to verify the FOID and CCL are valid. In McWilliams’ case, the officer told him the CCL didn’t appear on the database.  

Police cited that as a justification for his arrest, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved two felony charges: aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon.  

McWilliams told CBS News, “This has been very traumatic for me. I feel like my rights were violated.”

A spokesperson for CPD told CBS News that if an officer is unable to verify a FOID or CCL in LEADS, “the officer should not take any law enforcement actions as it relates to a potential FOID/CCL violation.”  

Translated, that means McWilliams never should have been arrested, but he was. So why? 

According to an unidentified “decorated police veteran who rose through the ranks” and “came forward to offer a rare glimpse into what motivates some officers,” the officers who engage in this practice are doing it for personal gain, and Black drivers are targeted because they make for somewhat easier marks. 

“You know, if I’m going to be honest, I think race is a big factor,” the source told CBS News. “Police might think folks on the North Side are more affluent, and they have more means to come back at you if you arrest them for situations like this.”

In other words, they target Black people because they count on Black people not knowing their rights, and even if they do know their rights, they may not have the time, education, or resources to fight back against a case like this. 

More from CBS News:

But the inside source, who spoke with CBS News Chicago under the condition of anonymity, said there’s personal and financial gain to be had for some officers. 

“Getting weapons off the street is one of the number one things politicians want you to do, mayors want you to do, superintendents want you to do, citizens want you to do. So, unfortunately, some cops get really aggressive,” the source said. “If you have really, really high numbers in terms of firearms recovered, then yeah, you will get the attention of supervisors. If you get promotions, you’re going to get more money. That’s just how it goes.”

Rep. Curtis Tarver is an Illinois state lawmaker who represents the 25th District, which includes Hyde Park, Kenwood, and South Shore, all historically Black neighborhoods. He was pulled over by police six years ago on Chicago’s South Side for a broken taillight. 

The officers who stopped Tarver asked him if he had a concealed carry license. 

More from CBS News:

“I’m thinking several things. One, I had just dropped my daughter off. I want to see her again, so I need to comply with whatever they ask me,” he said.

Without hesitation, Tarver gave up his gun and showed his FOID and CCL, which allow him to carry a firearm in his car in Illinois. 

On police body camera video, the officer acknowledged Tarver’s license was valid. But he also told Tarver it showed as revoked when police searched in the state’s system, LEADS.  

Tarver tried to explain he had recently renewed his CCL and called state police to confirm he was in good standing. He offered to call again, but police wouldn’t allow it, the video shows. Instead, they handcuffed and arrested him. 

Tarver is an example of the harm caused by these unnecessary arrests. 

“I was absolutely shocked that I was taken to the station,” Tarver told CBS News. “That they were proposing felony charges for something that was, at best, a clerical error.”

While Tarver wasn’t charged with a felony, he was charged with a misdemeanor. His mugshot was taken, and that mugshot remains in the system. The mugshot was used by a political opponent in messaging meant to paint Tarver as a criminal “even after his case was dismissed,” CBS reports. 

In each of the stories CBS News highlighted, all those arrested did the right thing. They had legally obtained licenses to carry firearms, and they provided that information to law enforcement. Yet, it meant nothing when law enforcement had its own agenda that boiled Black people down to numbers and stats. 

For every person who screams, “Why didn’t they just comply?” every time a story of police misconduct comes out, how do you explain this?

How do you justify an entire police department using Black people to pad stats simply because, in their minds, Black people make easier targets?

None of this is just. None of this is OK. 

We should be making a louder stink about this.

The police be lying, y’all. They lie all the time. 

This is just another example in a long history of police corruption.

SEE ALSO:

[Op-Ed] The Police Be Lying, And Here’s Your Proof

Videos Released By Judge Show Feds Are Lying About Chicago