The arrest of two Philadelphia LGBTQ leaders by a state trooper during a tense interstate traffic stop is “very concerning,” according to the city’s mayor, after a video of the incident emerged on social media.
Celena Morrison is Mayor Cherelle Parker’s top adviser and the director of the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs. Morrison’s spouse, Darius McLean, operates a community center. Both are black, while the Pennsylvania state trooper appears to be white.
“I don’t know why he’s doing this,” McLean cries to his wife Saturday morning as she records him shackled and lying on his side on the shoulder of an elevated roadway amid a thunderstorm. Cars drive by a few feet away.
“It’s ’cause I’m black,” McLean claims.
“It’s not ’cause you’re black,” says the trooper, who handcuffs McLean on the highway shoulder and proceeds on to arrest Morrison.
“Turn around!” “Give me your hands or you’ll be tased!” the trooper warns her, as she claims to work for the mayor. She appears to have dropped the phone at that time, and the video shows only the gray sky above.
Morrison, 51, and McLean, 35, were arrested on obstruction and resisting arrest charges following the 9 a.m. traffic check. However, District Attorney Larry Krasner did not file the charges right away because he was conducting an investigation.
“A video circulating on social media that depicts a portion of the incident is very concerning to me,” the mayor said in a statement, adding that she will wait until the inquiry is complete before saying anything else.
State police, who monitor the state highway that runs through the city, declined to identify the trooper but did say he was placed on restricted duty Monday and will not be patrolling while the incident is reviewed. The trooper’s patrol unit does not yet have body cameras, and the government has declined to provide dashboard camera footage.
According to the cellphone video uploaded online, the trooper stopped Morrison for tailgating and failing to turn on his lights. McLean, the William Way LGBT Community Center’s chief operations officer, reportedly pulled over in a second car and was arrested after allegedly arguing with an officer.
“Do you want to get tasered? “Put your hands behind your back!” the officer yells, standing above him on the road.
“They are!” “They are!” McLean cries.
“Since I am unaware of your identity, it is unnecessary for someone to roll up on me,” the trooper advises.
“That’s my husband…” “That’s my husband, please.” Morrison can be heard pleading out of sight. “I work for the Mayor. “I work for the Mayor.”
Morrison, a transgender woman, has been in the role since 2020, and she continued to serve when Parker assumed office in January.
In a message on the William Way institution’s social media page, executive director Chris Bartlett called the traffic stop “unjust” and stated that the institution “was working with officials to remedy this terrible situation.”
