Black lawmakers call on Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to condemn biased traffic stops

Several Congressional Black Caucus members are demanding the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Biden-Harris administration address racial disparities as it pertains to traffic enforcement. 

U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-MA., and Hank Johnson, D-GA, along with 25 Black congressional members, are calling on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and President Joe Biden to act by implementing policies to protect Black motorists. 

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) speaks as Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) (L) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) (R) listen during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“I think it is such a very infuriating commentary…that every Black person that has gotten behind the steering wheel of a motor vehicle has had to get an education on how they need to conduct themselves,” Pressley told theGrio. 

“Driving while Black is not a crime; however, we are profiled, surveyed, brutalized,” she said, adding that in some cases, Black motorists also “lose our lives” during traffic stops.

Pressley, Johnson and other CBC members sent a letter to Buttigieg asking him to condemn discriminatory practices within DOT and in law enforcement and to ensure that every American receives “access to a just transportation system.”

The letter read, “Driving while Black may not be a real crime codified in law, but it is treated as one throughout the country.”

It continued, “Far too many Black people have been killed by police in the name of traffic safety.”

On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile, 32, was shot and killed by a Twin Cities, Minnesota, police officer during a traffic stop. Officer Jeronimo Yanez pulled Castile over and asked for Castile’s license and registration. 

While Castile was following orders, he informed the officer that he had a gun. The officer told Castile not to use it, so Castile assured the officer that he would not. Without warning, the officer fired several shots into the vehicle, fatally wounding Castile, who died at an area hospital. The ordeal was live-streamed on Facebook by Castile’s girlfriend, who was in the car at the time of the shooting. 

Seven years later, Tyre Nichols, 29, was pulled over by several Memphis police officers for allegedly driving recklessly. However, an investigation proved that to be false and the officers did not have probable cause to make the traffic stop.

On Jan. 7, 2023, several officers were seen in a viral video brutally assaulting Nichols repeatedly. Following the encounter, he succumbed to his injuries, sparking outrage among members of the Black community. 

In this image from video released and partially redacted by the city of Memphis, Tennessee, Tyre Nichols lies on the ground during a brutal attack by Memphis Police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, in Memphis. Nichols died three days later. The Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, the state of Tennessee’s law enforcement certification and decertification board, has recommended decertification for four of the officers charged in his death. (Photo: City of Memphis via AP, File)

Pressley told theGrio, “A traffic stop should not be a death sentence, but it has been for many Black people.”

She continued, “This is not a new tragic phenomenon of Black Americans being targeted, profiled, brutalized and murdered at a traffic stop…This is the result of generations of systemic racism and white supremacy.”

Although most traffic stops that include Black motorists are non-fatal, congressional members want the Department of Transportation “to serve and safeguard the general public, including the Black community.” 

Pressley said that Black and brown motorists are traumatized by traffic enforcement policies and protocols. She believes there needs to be a “racial reckoning” to combat it.  

“We have to be actively anti-racist in every agency, every department – every entity has a role to play in that,” she said.

She continued, “[We] are calling on Secretary Pete Buttigieg to condemn this unjust status quo, to develop reforms to reduce these racial inequities.”

TheGrio has reached out to DOT but has not received a response at the time of publishing.

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