An Alabama band director who was shocked with a stun gun by police after he refused to stop his band’s performance said he is “stunned and baffled” by what happened.
Johnny Mims, the band director for Minor High School, said on NBC News NOW that he and the director for Jackson-Olin High School had agreed to do a “5th Quarter” performance, where both bands continued playing while the crowds left the stadium in Birmingham after Thursday night’s football game.
Mims said bands typically do this.
He said when police approached him he told them that the song they were playing would be their last performance.
“Before I knew it, I did see the officer tase me. I went down and after that, I was tased an additional two more times by the same officer and a different officer,” he said. “I can’t even remember after that point because I was so stunned and so baffled. All I remember is hearing all of my students screaming and all of the parents crying.”
Officers were clearing out the stadium following the game and saw both school bands still performing, the Birmingham Police Department said in a news release. Police said the officers asked both directors to stop playing so people would start to leave. The director for Jackson-Olin stopped, but the director for Minor continued to play, according to the release.
Sept. 19, 202302:23
The police department released body camera video on Monday that they say began 18 minutes after the game ended. It showed an officer approaching people with Minor’s band and telling them that it was “time to go.”
“Y’all gotta go and come down,” the officer is heard saying.
The officer then started speaking with the director, telling him that he was “being disrespectful.”
“Get out of my face. Get out of my face. Get out my face,” Mims repeats with his hands in the air.
A second officer approached and told the director to stop, the video showed. A sergeant was also seen in the video telling the director to “cut it.”
The situation quickly escalated and an officer is heard telling Mims that he’s going to jail. Mims is seen in the video giving a thumbs up and saying “that’s cool.” Police also alleged that the director signaled for the band to keep playing.
The stadium lights cut off, the video showed, and a police sergeant is heard directing an officer to handcuff Mims.
The body camera video showed that an altercation occurred shortly after the band stopped playing. Police alleged in the video that Mims swung at an officer, a claim he denies.
Mims was hit with a Taser several times, causing him to fall to the ground, the video showed.
Police said that Mims was treated at the stadium and then taken to the hospital. After he was discharged, he was transported to the city jail and charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and harassment before he bonded out.
Mims said on NBC News NOW that he has been going to the doctor to check on his health.
The Birmingham Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division has launched an investigation into the incident. Jefferson County Schools also is investigating and said Mims is on administrative leave, a standard procedure.
State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who is the attorney representing Mims, is calling for the officers’ suspension.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
