It’s a clash of law enforcement agencies. A black female Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is pointing the finger at a New Mexico police department, accusing officers of racial profiling after she was pulled over several times by sheriff’s deputies for no apparent reason.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed the lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of 38-year-old Sherese Crawford, according to Fox News.
Crawford accuses officers from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department of stopping her three times with no probable cause. Twice she was stopped by the same deputy.
The lawsuit claimed that Crawford was first stopped back in April on suspicion of driving a stolen car, despite the fact that she was using a rental that was provided by her job.
Later that month, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Deputy Patrick Rael pulled Crawford over for tailgating. According to the report, Rael recognized Crawford’s name and said that an officer with ICE and a sheriff’s deputy who was present at the first stop said that she had an “attitude,” the lawsuit claimed.
The sheriff’s deputy then stopped Crawford again, mere days later, for apparently driving too slowly. None of these stops ended in warnings or citations.
“Our client is an accomplished federal agent who was targeted for driving while black,” ACLU of New Mexico attorney Kristin Greer Love said. “Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office unlawfully and repeatedly stopped her because she fit a racial profile. Targeting people because of the color of their skin is unconstitutional and bad policing.”
Of course, like any law enforcement department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department is already under scrutiny by civil rights groups and activists after its officers’ involvement in nine shootings over four months, according to Fox.
Read more at Fox News.