Black realtor and prospective buyer are detained at g*unpoint by white p*olice o*fficers while looking at a home for sale after retired cop called 911 claiming they 'f*orced entry'
Anthony Edwards and his realtor, Jerry Isham, on Monday filed a federal laws*uit against City of Cincinnati and three p*olice o*fficers
They claims the cops, all white, deprived them of their civil rights by putting them in handc*uffs in November 2018
Isham was showing Edwards a home for sale when a retired p*olice o*fficer, Thomas Branigan, saw them and called 911 to report a home invasion
Three o*fficers arrived and one of them drew her service w*eapon and pointed it at Edwards after ordering him to put his hands up
Both Edwards and Isham were handc*uffed and the realtor had his pockets searched by Valentino, who retrieved a stack of business cards
Both men were eventually let go, and Branigan admitted to p*olice that he did not have a good view of the door when he called 911.
A Cincinnati realtor and his client have filed a federal laws*uit against the city alleging deprivation of civil rights and false a*rrest stemming from an i*ncident last year in which a retired white cop called 911 a*ccusing them of b*reaking into a house.
According to the 16-page complaint f*iled on Monday, prospective homebuyer Anthony Edwards and his real estate agent, Jerry Isham, who are both black, were scheduled to view the property at 1093 Morado Drive in West Price Hill on November 17, 2018.
The two men used a key left for them in a lockbox outside the front door to enter the residence.
Anthony Edwards and his realtor, Jerry Isham, were viewing this home on Morado Drive in Cincinnati on November 11, 2018, when a white neighbor called the p*olice on them.
O*fficer Rose Valentino's body camera video recorded the moment she and three colleagues responded to the b*reaking and entering report.
Valentino handc*uffed Isham, even though he told her he was a realtor showing a house.
She searched his pockets and found a stack of business cards confirming his identity.
While they were inspecting the home, a retired Cincinnati P*olice Department motorcycle o*fficer Thomas Branigan, who is white, called 911 claiming that he had just seen 'two black male subjects f*orce the front door open,' according to the laws*uit obtained by Fox 19.
Branigan, who lives in the predominantly white neighborhood, told the dispatcher that while the house on Morado Drive is for sale, that day no open house was being held there.
Three p*olice o*fficers, all white, responded to the b*reaking and entering report.
Officers David Knox and Dustin Peet arrived first. They were then joined by o*fficer Rose Valentino, whose body camera captured the interaction that followed.
In the video, Valentino is seen drawing her service w*eapon and pointing it at the house while yelling at Edwards and Isham to raise their hands and come out.
Edwards tells the o*fficers that he had an appointment to view the house and identifies Isham as his realtor.
The would-be homebuyer expresses his disdain for 'white people calling goddamn p*olice,' to which one of the officers replies that the caller was just being a 'good neighbor.'
O*fficer Valentino then orders Isham to turn around so she could put handc*uffs on him 'until we can confirm' his story.'
Edwards, meanwhile, unleashes a diatribe claiming that if he and Isham were white, they would not have been treated this way.
One of the officers takes umbrage at Edwards’ words and insists that he and his colleagues are just doing their job.
'I don’t give a d*** if you’re white or black, we’re doing our job here. Man, this is incredible,' the officer tells Edwards.
He then warns the man that playing the 'race card' 'doesn't fly.'
Branigan, the retired cop who was said to be a*rmed, was allowed to be present near the scene.
‘None of the off*icers involved...undertook any action to secure the scene at 1093 Morado Drive by having the complainant (and his firea*rm) immediately removed from the vicinity so as to promote and ensure officer safety,’ the complaint states.
After Valentino retrieved a stack of Isham's business cards identifying him as a real estate agent and searched his pockets, both he and his client were let go without any ch*arges.
‘Sorry about that, sir,’ Valentino tells Isham in the video. ‘We can only go by what's reported to us.’
The realtor's nine-year-old son was waiting for his father in his parked car, according to the laws*uit.
Edwards said he felt like he and Isham were targeted because of their race.
‘Basically we were g*uilty until proven innocent in their eyes,’ he told Fox 19 on Monday. ‘It was all about we’re black, they’re white, and this retired p*olice o*fficer’s word is over us all and we had no defense until they found out, “Yeah, they are here looking at this house.”’
An i*ncident report compiled by p*olice after the fact indicated that when officers talked to Branigan, the retired cop admitted that 'he didn't have a good view of the entry and may have been mistaken.'
The laws*uit names the City of Cincinnati and the three responding o*fficers as defendants, but no Branigan because civilian reporting possible c*rimes have immunity under the law.
The complaint alleges deprivation of civil rights, false a*rrest/false imprisonment and destruction of records.
The third count stems from the plaintiffs' allegations that seven body camera videos capturing the i*ncident have been destroyed.
Edwards and Isham are seeking unspecified d*amages and a*ttorneys’ fees.
Watch the video HERE.