A Black father in Slidell, Louisiana, is calling for an officer to be fired after he was arrested for cursing during an interaction with one of his children.
Kevin Mitchell, a 29-year-old resident of the town just outside of New Orleans, was at Walmart shopping with his wife and children at 6 p.m. on February 21. After he parked in the lot, his 4-year-old son swung the door open and hit the car next to theirs, NBC News reports.
Mitchell yelled at his son and told him to be careful when opening car doors. Slidell police Capt. Kevin Swann was in his truck next to Mitchell's car and heard the interaction. He criticized Mitchell for using curse words around his son and said it was illegal to use profanity in public.
"That's when the officer let his window down and said, 'You can't be cursing like that.' I said, 'Sir, I'm talking to my children,' and he kept saying, 'Well, you can't talk like that in Slidell.' I said 'Sir, I'm talking to my children,'" Mitchell told local news outlet WDSU.
"You can hear me telling the man, 'You can't tell me how to talk to my children.' He kept saying, 'You can't curse in Slidell. You can't do this in Slidell,' and I just told the man, 'What are you going to do?' and he arrested me," Mitchell added.
In Facebook videos that have now racked up thousands of views, Mitchell and Swann can be seen going back and forth about the situation, with the father saying that he has every right to speak to his children forcefully if he thinks he needs to.
Mitchell and his family went into the Walmart to do their shopping, but when they came out, four police officers were waiting to arrest him, according to WDSU.
The two sides exchanged more harsh words before the handful of officers arrested Mitchell on a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace. Mitchell posted his bond and was released from jail soon after. His court date is set for May 4.
His wife, Jordan, said her husband "is a great father," and that he "works very hard and gets up every day at 4 a.m. and goes to work" to provide for his family.
In an interview with NBC, Mitchell said it was wrong for the officer to get involved in his interaction with his child and that his arrest was an overreaction.
"The officer was already on 100%. I kept telling him, 'Dude, you're picking with me.' And he kept telling me what I can't do in Slidell. If he thought what I said to my son was disrespectful, he should have came to me as a man. If you're respectful to me, I'm going to be respectful back. But he came off disrespectful. I feel like officers are here to defuse the situation. This officer, he saw gas and lit a match, and that was his motive from the jump," Mitchell said, adding that the situation upset his five children.
In addition to asking that all charges be dropped, Mitchell also filed a formal complaint on Thursday against the Slidell Police Department and Swann in particular, saying the officer should be fired from the force, NBC reported.
Slidell Police Department Chief Randy Fandal defended the police actions in a statement to WDSU, telling reporters that the officers were right to arrest and charge Mitchell.
“I am aware of the arrest in question and have reviewed the videos taken by Mr. Mitchell. There was more than enough probable cause to arrest Mr. Mitchell. At this time, based on what I have reviewed, the officers acted appropriately; however, Mr. Mitchell did file an internal affairs complaint with this agency, yesterday afternoon," Fandal's statement read.
"We will do a full investigation into this matter by gathering all of the facts in order to determine if there were any policy violations committed by my officers. Not in relation to this particular incident, but in general, if someone is repeatedly yelling extreme profanities and racial slurs, at a public place like Walmart…and refuses to calm down and continues to carry on, causing alarm and distress to innocent bystanders…yes, they will be arrested," the statement continued.
Fandal also went on to say that it was normal for people to be arrested for crimes like this and that disturbing the peace is a state law "that can be enforced everywhere."
"People live in our community because they enjoy a safe and family-oriented place to live. People should not fear going out in public to have their peace disturbed by someone screaming profanities and racial slurs," Fandal said in his statement.
In an interview with Nola.com, public information officer Daniel Seuzeneau implied that Mitchell should have been charged with even more crimes, including "contributing to the delinquency of juveniles."
Mitchell told NBC that in the end, he did apologize to his son for using curse words with him but would not apologize to Swann.
According to Nola.com, officers from the Slidell Police Department came to Mitchell's home the next day complaining that their office had been inundated with phone calls since the family posted videos of the interaction on Facebook.
"It's just outrageous about the way he reacted with the whole situation. I feel like if I say something wrong, you approach me as a man," Mitchell said. A policeman like that shouldn’t have a badge. I feel like a policeman like that shouldn’t work in the city of Slidell when you approach people in that manner. And the way you approached my wife and asking her for her personal information of her children, should definitely lose his job."
