Black man detained while moving into own Kansas home

Associated Press

The Kansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union today asked state officials to investigate after a black man was detained by police while moving into his home, then allegedly harassed for weeks and blocked by the police chief from filing a racial-bias complaint with the department.

Karle Robinson, a 61-year-old Marine veteran, was held at gunpoint and handcuffed in August as he was carrying a television out of a rented moving van into the home he had bought a month earlier in Tonganoxie, about 30 miles west of Kansas City.

"I'd like to see those cops and that chief lose their jobs because this was uncalled for – this is strictly racial profiling," Robinson told The Associated Press in an interview.

He added that if he were white "we wouldn't even be having this conversation right now."

The ACLU of Kansas said in a news release it was a case of "moving while black" and the organization asked Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt to investigate the matter or refer the group's complaint to the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers' Standards and Training. The attorney general's office said in an emailed statement it has reviewed the ACLU's letter and forwarded it to the commission in accordance with Kansas law.

"Mr. Robinson believes his detention was motivated by his race rather than a reasonable suspicion that he was committing a burglary," Lauren Bonds, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas, said in the group's release. "It also appears that the Chief of Police prevented Mr. Robinson from filing a credible, legitimate complaint and that is not in compliance with reporting and intake standards. He must not interfere with citizens registering complaints."

The incident involving Robinson is one of the latest examples of situations in which law enforcement officers have had encounters or confrontations with African-Americans over their own belongings.

In the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Ill., city officials approved a $1.25 million settlement with a black man who sued after police tackled him and arrested him for stealing a car that turned out to be his own.

Tonganoxie Police Chief Greg Lawson said in an emailed statement the department has fully cooperated with Robinson and the ACLU regarding inquiries into the incident.