Defend Single Parent From Racist Police

One of my former students in Pittsburgh is in trouble; I cannot give their name or full details because it might endanger their already precarious safety. We are seeking donations for legal aid, the need for which could not be more immediate. My student is facing trumped-up felony charges and is in urgent need of legal representation against a corrupt police officer’s targeted, racist harassment. Their case is set to be heard in October, and we are raising money for their legal defense. Here’s the story:

For the past several months, a police officer has been harassing my former student, who we’ll call H, in a multitude of ways, which have now resulted in felony charges being brought against H. The police officer has behaved inappropriately since his first encounter with H, who is a young single parent. The harassment began with pulling H over repeatedly for minor and disputable traffic violations, claiming that H had not used their turn signal or had not stopped at a stop sign for the appropriate amount of time. During these stops, the officer forced H to leave their vehicle, and said and did other things that were inappropriate and threatening to H’s safety, even with the presence of a small child in the car. The officer also started watching and driving past H’s home. Without citing any reason or violations, he has pulled over friends and family members of H who have visited H's house to ask if H was home or if their child was home, and to tell them that H’s license was suspended. They also have had H’s car towed and impounded multiple times for violations like “parking too far from the curb.” The accumulation of these tickets, which are expensive and not always easy to pay, has resulted in H’s license being suspended, which is economically devastating for any working person, but especially a single parent.

The final and most devastating charge came when the officer followed H and did not use his lights or siren when “attempting to pull them over,” and the officer now claims that H fled and drove recklessly and that since H’s child was in the car, an additional charge of child endangerment has been tacked on. During this interaction, THE OFFICER PULLED OUT HIS FIREARM AND POINTED IT AT H IN FRONT OF H'S CHILD. H now faces felony charges, which could result in them going to prison. There is NO EVIDENCE to support this charge since the traffic cameras along the road where this supposedly occurred were broken, the officer's car did not have a dash cam, and their body camera was not on during the supposed “chase.”

It may not surprise you to hear that the officer is white and that H is not white. The public defender assigned to H’s case has only been minimally attentive to their situation. The judge at the first hearing they attended told them that they were “a threat to society,” sentencing them to twenty days in jail, which they are in the process of fighting. The cards are stacked against H, in ways that so many of us bear witness to every day.

H is a wonderful and devoted parent, and it was evident even when their child was still in utero that they were going to be an attentive and responsible parent. While a student in my class, they were already taking huge steps to get their life ready for the baby, to provide for their child, and to prepare themselves for parenthood. They regularly talked to me about the reading they were doing about parenting techniques and ways of ensuring that their child would grow up safe, respected, and knowing they were loved. Apart from that, H was an incredibly talented student who wrote one of the most memorable papers ever handed into me, and I have spoken of how striking and impactful this paper was quite often. That baby-on-the-way is now a happy, well-loved kid, who is facing the prospect of losing their amazing parent because we currently live within a system where a white man with a badge can ruin the life of anyone he wants with impunity, especially young, economically-vulnerable people of color who don’t have the resources to fight back in court effectively. This officer is stalking, harassing, and literally criminalizing H because he thinks that H is alone, because he thinks he can get away with it.

But H is not alone, and with your help we can and will stand up to this racist abuse of power. Funds will be used to hire a lawyer for H as soon as possible and to cover expenses associated with the court case. While a small group of friends including myself are now assembled to assist, we have limited resources and an even more limited time before H's court date. We continue to seek free legal aid, but because H’s trial is coming up so soon (in October), we need to get them legal advocacy as soon as humanly possible. If you’re reading this and you have any suggestions or referrals, especially if you have connections or ideas about legal representation for H, please message this campaign as soon as possible.