aclu sues bakersfield police over arrest of black passenger in car stopped for dangling air freshener - solar powered car air freshener

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the beckerfield police department for claiming that its officials illegally imprisoned a black man in his car after he stopped because of air fresheners hanging on his rear-view mirror.
Robert Mitchell was arrested on March 17, when the police asked for the identity of everyone in the car, which Mitchell initially refused.
The ACLU Foundation in southern and northern California claims that the officials violated Mitchell's constitutional rights.
The lawsuit filed on Friday claimed that "officials actually stopped the car in order to detain the passengers of the car --
All black people.
Investigate them without reasonable doubt or possible cause
In other words, stopping is a pre-racialtextual stop.
Mitchell was sentenced to 12 hours in prison but has never been charged with a crime.
"Mitchell dared to challenge the police about their constitutional violation, for which he was handcuffed, arrested and spent the night in prison," said nowira Coleman . " A staff lawyer for the Northern California ACLU.
"The court should make it clear that the illegal conduct of the beckerfield police station is not tolerated.
"City officials said they were not prosecuted and therefore could not respond.
Mitchell was arrested by officer Ronnie Jeffries and John Bishop.
They said they stopped because of a violation of national vehicle regulations, including installing air fresheners on their mirrors.
Lawyer ACLU said in court documents that air fresheners are not an effective basis for stopping use under California law.
Police then questioned drivers and passengers, including Mitchell.
Mitchell claimed that he had the right not to give his name or other information and made it clear that he was not suspected of a crime.
The suit claimed that the officers violated his rights to the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, requested information and threatened to detain the car if Mitchell did not recognize himself.
Mitchell did not want his friend's car to be detained and eventually agreed to provide his full name, but also asked for a supervisor.
The suit claimed that when a sergeant in charge arrived, he told Mitchell that he had two options: to provide further information or to go to jail.
When Mitchell replied that he had already said his name, he was immediately handcuffed and arrested.
Mitchell recorded some interactions in the video until the police ordered him to get off the bus.
At the time, a police officer grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm behind his back, grabbed Mitchell's phone and handcuffed him, the lawsuit said.
He was shut down for 12 hours.
Mitchell said he just defended his rights.
"All I did was express my rights and I went to jail for that," Mitchell said . ".
"Justice is overdue in this community.
People are asking for a change in our police department.
"The department and the Kern County sheriff's office have become the subject of a civil rights investigation by the California attorney general.
Last year, ACLU's inspection of the department found that "patterns of shooting, beating and police dog attacks have been disturbing" in recent years, many of them involving unarmed suspects.