The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
Philly’s LGBTQ director, hubby are alleged victims of ‘excessive force’ by cop in video: ‘Very concerning’
“I work for the mayor!’’ yells Celena Morrison, executive director of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Office of LGBT Affairs.
nypost.com
Philly’s LGBTQ director, hubby are alleged victims of ‘excessive force’ by cop in video: ‘Very concerning’
By
Social Links for Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
Published March 3, 2024, 12:52 p.m. ET
Philadelphia’s LGBTQ director and her husband were the alleged victims of “excessive force’’ by a cop during a weekend car stop in the City of Brotherly Love — with the controversial encounter caught on video.
“That’s my husband! That’s my husband!” shouts Celena Morrison, the 51-year-old executive director of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Office of LGBT Affairs, at an unidentified trooper as he stands over her spouse, Darius McLean, 35, lying on the ground, according to the footage.
“I work for the mayor! I work for the mayor!” she yells.
5 McLean is cuffed by the trooper on a Philly highway Saturday. Latasha Morrison Sinclair
The trooper retorts, “Shut the f–k up’’ to Morrison, who has been touted as the first openly transgender person to head a city department.
At one point, McLean claims that he is being abused because he is black, prompting a flat denial from the cop.
Both Morrison and McLean, chief operating officer of the William Way Community Center in Philly, were eventually arrested, but the local district attorney’s office declined to pursue charges, the Philadelphia Inquirer said.
The drama unfolded on Saturday shortly after 9 a.m. on Interstate 76 when Morrison, who was driving a gray Infiniti sedan followed by McLean at the wheel of a green Dodge, was pulled over for alleged “multiple vehicle code violations.”
McLean pulled up behind her, and “the trooper approached the Dodge, and the operator of the vehicle became verbally combative toward the trooper,” the department told the outlet.
5 The unidentified Pennsylvania state trooper cautions mayoral LGBTQ director Celena Morrison to stand back during the controversial encounter. Latasha Morrison Sinclair
“The individual refused multiple lawful orders made by the trooper and the trooper subsequently attempted to place the individual under arrest,” police said.