I became a police officer in 2016 and that was also the year a very infamous and decisive election occurred. I was patrolling the small college town I worked in at the time and the streets were full of people drinking. While driving by I saw a young man pick up a traffic barrel and chuck it into the middle of the road. My Sargent, Troy, who I was riding with went over to see what this kid was doing. As soon as we pulled up to him it became obvious that he was inebriated. The young man was swaying, his cheeks were pink and he was slurring his words. Everyone knows that in college towns alcohol is prevalent and so is underage drinking. As law enforcers in that town, we don’t arrest people for underage drinking unless they are causing issues. If we were to arrest everyone for underage drinking the jails would be over full capacity or at full capacity.
Unfortunately, this individual was not minding his own business. I got his ID and read that his name was Chet. Chet was 19.years young and was accompanied by his friend Darwin. Now Darwin was the same age and obviously had also been drinking but seemed to be coherent. He was trying to get a hold of Chet. I kept my eyes on Chet and with as much apathy as i had at the time, asked him “why would you throw that thing in the road?”
I expected a dumb answer but still got caught off guard by what Chet said.. His teary eyes pierced straight into my eyes as he said “cause Hillary lost.”. He then looked at SGT. Troy for a second as though looking for some sort of sympathy but then directed his gaze back at me before saying; “wait aren’t you mad she didn’t win?.” I responded, “what does winning have to do with you almost causing an accident.” Chet then just kept repeating “why are you mad? You should be mad Hillary didn’t win. Why aren’t you mad?” SGT. Troy stifled a laugh and I looked at him confused. Then Darwin who was quiet jumped in and said “I’m so sorry officer. I can take him home now.” Darwin tried to grab Chet’s hand but he shook himself free and turned pointing at me “No. He should be mad that Hillary didn’t win.” Chet, who was certainly emboldened by his drunken stupor, got in my face and was still in tears asked me again “aren’t you mad she didn’t win.” At that point SGT. Troy couldn’t hold in his laughter any longer and a loud sounding groan came out. Poor Darwin looked embarrassed and worried at the same time for his friend..
It finally also dawned on me what was going on. Apparently Chet felt that as a black man I should have been extremely angry at the results of the election. In fact I should have been at a minimum twice as angry as him since he was a white man. Chet would not and could not stop asking until he got his answer.
I looked at Darwin and told him to go home. I then told Chet to put his hands behind his back since he was way too drunk to be left alone even with his friend.. As I was putting on the handcuffs Chet was in shock. “Why am I going to jail? Hillary lost the election.” Chet kept repeating. He kept on repeating these phrases until we got to the jail. As the jail cell bars shut in front of him, a disillusioned Chet looked at me as though I had utterly betrayed him.
Originally posted on my blog (https://ourstoriesfrombehindthebadge.wordpress.com/)
