What began as a routine band performance of Talkin’ Out the Side of Your Neck by Cameo at an Alabama high school football game ended in a troubling confrontation when a police officer tased the marching band director for refusing to stop the music.
The altercation occurred Thursday around 9 p.m. local time after a game at Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, Ala.
Minor High School band director Johnny Mims, 39, and his ensemble of 145 students were about a minute away from being done with their final song when a police officer approached the podium. According to both Mims and the Birmingham Police Department, officers asked Mims to stop the performance so they could clear out the stadium. Mims responded that the song was about to end and the performance was agreed on by both schools.
“Nothing we were doing at the time was being a danger to the community, fans or the school,” Mims told NPR on Monday. “Everyone was enjoying themselves. That’s the part I’m having a hard time grappling with.”
As the students finished their performance, officers attempted to arrest Mims for not complying. Police said the band director “refused” to place his hands behind his back and allegedly pushed an arresting officer.
The cop gave exactly his reason to arrest the band director: he didn’t respect his [unintelligible]. That was disrespectful.
You can’t go around being disrespectful to cops! They’re people, too. People with tasers, handcuffs, guns, and have used straight-up corruption to get the rights to stomp all over your constitutional rights or just murder you.
C’mon you guys, we need to have more compassion for these poor cops. They were disrespected by a not-yet-tased high school band director: the most dangerous of all band directors.