SEATTLE, WA – Anthony Sims, a Black delivery person and victim of a “racially motivated” traffic stop in 2020, according to Kalyn Womack of The Root, recently received a $319,000 settlement from the City of Seattle.
On May 17, 2020, Sims was en route to a delivery location when Seattle police pulled him over, said The Root, adding Sims’ lawsuit claims that when Sims stepped out of his vehicle, Lt. Robert Brown pulled out his service weapon and ordered Sims to return to his vehicle.
“(B)efore (Sims) knew it, there were several officers surrounding him with their guns drawn,” writes Womack, citing the lawsuit—which argues officers displayed excessive force and violated Sims’ constitutional rights.
According to the lawsuit, Lt. Brown pulled Sims over because he believed he was driving a stolen car, and, even after Sims’ plates came back “clear,” another officer took Sims’ keys and checked his trunk without requesting consent.
Although officers released Sims after the allegedly unlawful search, the lawsuit also claims officers filed a false report—claiming the traffic stop was for a broken blinker rather than for a possible stolen vehicle.
Two years after Sims filed the lawsuit (and four years after the incident occurred), a trial judge ruled the officers violated Sims’ Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure, even finding evidence the stop was “racially motivated,” added The Root, citing a story in the Seattle Times.
An appeals panel unanimously upheld the judge’s decision, denied the officers’ claim to qualified immunity and ordered the City of Seattle to pay Sims $319,000, The Root wrote.
“The order to dismiss states the payment does not imply the officers were justified.”
