Philly LGBT Affairs director arrested and told to ‘shut the f*** up’ in ‘very concerning’ clip
A still from a video posted to social media showing a police officer arresting a man, later identified as Darius McLean. (Facebook)
Officials have described footage of an officer arresting Philadelphia’s head of LGBT Affairs, Celena Morrison, as “very concerning” following overwhelming backlash.
Morrison, the city’s director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, was taken into custody on Saturday morning (2 March) along with her husband, Darius McLean, after a police officer pulled them over on the Vine Street Expressway.
In a video circulating on social media, the unnamed state trooper can be seen cuffing McLean, who is on the ground, while Morrison yells “That’s my husband. That’s my husband, please.”
Morrison then yells: “I work for the mayor,” with the trooper responding by telling Morrison to “shut the f*** up.”
A spokesperson told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Saturday evening that the two were being held at the Police Detention Unit (PDU) in Center City.
This was later confirmed in a statement which said two Philadelphia residents, aged 25 and 51, were arrested for resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct, and related charges.
The report, shared with CNN said that two individuals, believed to be Celena Morrison and Darius McLean, were pulled over due to “multiple vehicle vode violations.”
After one of the individuals allegedly became “verbally combative” and allegedly “refused multiple lawful orders,” the state trooper opted to arrest them.
The pair then allegedly “resister arrest on multiple occasions” and “interfered with the trooper’s attempt at making an arrest.”
In a statement later in the day, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker called the interaction “very concerning.”
“Earlier today, a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper executed a car stop on the Vine Street Expressway in Philadelphia,” Parker said.
“Celena Morrison, the city’s executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, was in the vehicle that was stopped.
“A video circulating on social media that depicts a portion of the incident is very concerning to me and I will have no further comment until the investigation has been completed.”
No charges have yet been filed according to the District Attorney’s Office. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
“As our office continues to investigate all aspects of the incident on the Vine Street Expressway on Saturday, we encourage members of the public who have truthful information about this incident to contact the DA’s Special Investigations Unit at [email protected] or 215-686-9608.”
