A white driver in Pontiac, Michigan, has been cleared by a jury this week after receiving a ticket for blasting NWA's classic "F**k Tha Police" during a traffic stop involving a Black motorist.
In June, James Webb entered a gas station around the same time an Oakland County Sheriff's deputy pulled over Black driver Dejuante Franklin, according to Fox 2. He was playing "F**k Tha Police" relatively loud before entering the station, but he admits to turning it up once he saw the officer.
"I went over there and played that song loud. I meant to do it to the officer but as a form of protest," Webb said. "It was already up, but I turned it up louder. Didn't mean no violence, nothing, as a complete form of protest."
Webb then exited the vehicle and entered the store. When he returned, the officer was waiting, asked for his ID and handed Webb a ticket for a misdemeanor noise violation. If he failed to pay, he would have had to pay an additional $500 fine and spend up to 93 days in jail, reports MLive.
"The cop was talking to me, handing me my ticket, and was like 'is he playing that for me?' I was like, 'I don't know him, you ask him that question.' He was like, 'I'm sick of this…I'm going over there now,'" Franklin told Fox 2.
Instead of paying the ticket, Webb decided to fight it. The Hill reports he went to trial this week to prove the officer violated his First Amendment rights.
The song bothered the officer not the volume, Webb's attorney, Nicholas Somberg, explained during the proceeding. Following a 10-minute deliberation, a jury cleared Webb of all wrongdoing.
"If the officer is saying it wasn't the content of the music, it's quite a coincidence then. The name of the song being 'F**k Tha Police' and he's a police officer, I wonder if he would write the same ticket if he heard a song called 'I love the police," Somberg told Fox 2 in an interview. "James had an absolute right, First Amendment right, to play whatever music he likes really wherever he likes."
Blavitize your inbox! Join our daily newsletter for fresh stories and breaking news.
Stacey Abrams Teases Another Bid For Office: 'I'm Going To Run Again'
Incoming New York Attorney General Letitia James Announces Plan To Investigate Trump Family
26-Year-Old Nadine Ijewere Is The First Woman Of Color To Shoot A Vogue Cover
