Midland Officers Mishandle Traffic Stop of Black Man



photo of Midland police
Midland Police

Midland Texas Police – Video Below

Sometimes I wonder if officers realize the difference in how they treat black people as opposed to white people or is their fear/bias so ingrained that they really believe they are only reacting to the suspect’s actions?

On May 16, the young man in the video is being stopped for a traffic violation by a Midland Police Department officer. He made a rolling stop at a stop sign. Remember that. This is all about a traffic stop. Tye Anders doesn’t get out of his vehicle for approximately 6 minutes though officers are calling for him to do so. it appears that there are two police vehicles and four officers at this point. Finally Tye Anders gets out while repeatedly yelling, why did you stop me. He has his hands in the air while at least four guns are pointed at him. Mr. Anders finally  gets on the ground with his hands out though the officers are telling him to walk back toward them. Then nothing. They stay with their guns pointing at him while he is on the ground with his hands out.

Poor Training or Fear?

This already makes no sense. Why didn’t the initial officer approach the vehicle when he first stopped? Isn’t that what officers usually do? Or is it the Midland police’s practice to handle all traffic stops with guns drawn? I’m not saying Mr. Anders didn’t do anything wrong. He obviously didn’t immediately comply but if you can’t understand the fear that a black person has in dealing with the police then it’s time for you to come out from under the rock you’ve been living under.

At least four police officers are pointing their weapons at Mr. Anders. Hell, I would be afraid too. He’s afraid to get out of the car. When he does, he’s afraid to approach them, afraid they will take any movement he makes as an aggression and fire, so he gets on the ground. It may not be what they asked but it accomplishes the same purpose. Why was that not enough for them? Why didn’t one of them approach him while he was lying face down on the ground with his hands out?

Instead the officers continue in this position, shouting commands at him for a few minutes, all the while allowing the bystanders to get more and more agitated. During this time, Mr. Anders’ 90 year old grandmother comes out of the house. Mr. Anders is on the ground yelling that he’s scared they’re going to kill him. The grandmother stands over Tye Anders and is trying to calm the situation down. Finally four officers approach this young, unarmed black man lying on the ground. They only felt safe enough to do it when they had four officers along with other officers as back-up.

Unbelievable Stupidity

Okay, they’re going to take him into custody. Does any one of them have sense enough to gently steer the grandmother out of harm’s way since she is stand inches away from her grandson? No. They just leave her right there and work around her. The woman appears to lose her balance and falls over onto Tye Anders and the officers and the whole scene goes to hell. People think the grandmother was attacked. Bystanders rush to help the grandmother. Officers aren’t sure if they are being attacked so they attack back. Chaos ensues and it’s the fault of the officers who did not handle this call properly from start to finish.

What I see is fear. Fear to approach a black male even though he is unarmed and lying on the ground with his arms out. Fear to come out from behind their car doors to deal with a black person, unless you have overwhelming manpower, because black people are perceived by police as being so dangerous. But fear is not all I see. I also see a major lack of common sense. Of course, that could be a result of the fear, but since it’s their job to handle situations that may cause them to fear, it’s not an excuse. If they can’t think logically through their fear, even irrational fear, then they shouldn’t be wearing the badge.

And in the end, who pays for the fear and incompetence of the officers? Why the black people, of course. Remember, this was a traffic stop. You can view the full police dashcam video of the event here. Just a heads up, it’s over 36 minutes long. The shorter, more relevant version, is below.

2 thoughts on “Midland Officers Mishandle Traffic Stop of Black Man

    • admin

      Rosalyn – We don’t have that answer and we think it’s best for us not to get in the business of supporting funding efforts. What we will recommend is that you check out the Go Fund Me site to see if the Anders family has created an account.

      We would like to ask our readers to help spread the word about our website. Please recommend us to people you know. Thank you.

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