Tyler Perry’s April 1 Facebook post about police pulling him over was no April Fool’s joke: The highest-paid man in entertainment is accusing a pair of white Atlanta police officers of racial profiling.
Four days later, Perry’s post boasts more than 117,000 “likes,” 21,000 comments, and 12,000 shares. Atlanta police have launched an internal investigation, E! News reports.
Perry’s predicament began when he admittedly made a left turn from a far-right lane — a trick his security detail taught him, to make sure he wasn’t being followed, Perry explained on Facebook.
Two white Atlanta police officers pulled him over, but apparently did not realize they’d just stopped Tyler Perry.
When Perry explained his illegal turn was to make sure no one was tailing him, one officer allegedly asked, “Why do you think someone would be following you?” Perry said in his post.
Before Perry could answer, the second white officer started “banging” on his passenger’s side window — apparently taking issue with the window’s tint, Perry told his fans.
As both officers “badgered” Perry about why he thought someone may be following him, Perry said he recalled his mother’s
advice:
“My mother would always say to me, ‘if you get stopped by the police, especially if they are white
policemen, you say ‘yes sir’ and ‘no sir’, and if they want to take you in, you go with them. Don’t resist, you hear me?
Don’t make any quick moves, don’t run, you just go.'”
But then a second police cruiser pulled up, and a black Atlanta policeman emerged. “He took one look at me and had that ‘Oh No’ look on his face,” Perry recounted.
The black officer spoke “in a hushed tone” to the two white officers, Perry said. “After that, one of the officers stayed near his car while one came back, very apologetic.”
Perry was released, but news reports do not indicate whether he was cited for his illegal left turn or tinted windows. Georgia law requires drivers to approach a left turn from “the extreme left-hand lane” of a multi-lane road, Georgia Public Broadcasting reports.
Georgia law also makes it a misdemeanor to tint driver’s or passenger’s side windows under certain conditions, according to the state’s
Department of Public Safety.
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The Atlanta police department’s Office of Professional Standards is looking into Tyler Perry’s racial-profiling claims, E! News reports.