The great thing about being racially oppressed is that rules don’t apply to you. If anyone calls you on violating them, you can just pull out the race card, like State Representative John Thompson of Saint Paul.

Thompson was pulled over for not having a front license plate, which is required by state law in Minnesota. Correct that: he was pulled over because the police are racist. He was then cited for driving with a suspended license. His license had been revoked for failing to pay child support. That’s the kind of oppression some have to deal with thanks to systemic racism:

“I thought we weren’t doing pretextual stops in this state. But we are,” said Rep. John Thompson, DFL-St. Paul, at an event Tuesday marking five years since Philando Castile was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. “We’re still getting driving-while-Black tickets here in this state.”

Screeching about black victimhood no doubt got him his job; it ought to get him out of having to pay traffic tickets.

Good thing there was bodycam video. Otherwise, who knows what tales Thompson might have told? The arresting officer might be in the cell next to Derek Chauvin’s. Thompson has tried to keep the video from the public:

“Rep. Thompson’s signature issue at the state legislature was advocating for rapid release of police officer’s body camera footage. Now he’s blocking the public release of the body camera footage of his own incident with law enforcement this past week,” said [Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association] Executive Director Brian Peters. “Constituents have the right to see how their legislator conducted himself, particularly when he made such strong claims about what happened during the traffic stop.”

Unfortunately for Thompson, it isn’t easy to keep video off the Internet:

Let’s see if the race card can get Thompson out of this:

Gov. Tim Walz and leaders from Minnesota’s DFL and GOP parties called for Thompson’s resignation Saturday after reports emerged of domestic assault allegations going as far back as 2003.

Thompson was charged with domestic assault twice in the 2000s in separate incidents, and both were reduced to disorderly conducts.

Thompson’s defense:

He questioned the authenticity of the police reports, which a Fox9 journalist obtained via public record requests, calling them the “product of the campaign to silence an American African man who speaks out against powerful and abusive interest.”

Republicans are filing an ethics complaint. With a two-thirds vote, Thompson can be kicked out of the legislature. Unfortunately, any constituency that would elect him can be counted on to replace him with someone else just as atrocious.

On a tip from Wiggins.

One Response to “State Rep John Thompson Plays the Race Card”

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   July 19, 2021 at 8:13 am

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