Black man sues Michigan cops for racial profiling

Inset: Dakarai Larriett (Facebook). Background: Larriett during an April traffic stop in Benton Harbor, Michigan (Michigan State Police).

A high-ranking executive is accusing Michigan State Police troopers of racially profiling him during a traffic stop and then “dehumanizing” him by forcing him to go to the bathroom in front of them.

Dakarai Larriett, who is Black and gay, recently filed the federal lawsuit in the Western District of Michigan against MSP and the troopers involved in the stop, George Michael Kanyuh and Matthew Okaiye. The incident in question occurred around 3 a.m. April 10 in Benton Harbor, a city on the Mitten State’s west side. Troopers accused Larriett, 41, of rolling through a stoplight in his BMW, something he denies. A friend who was with him in the car concurred.

When Kanyuh, who is white, approached Larriett’s SUV, he claimed he smelled something “fruity” on Larriett’s breath and asked him whether he had been drinking that night.

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“Trooper Kanyuh repeatedly questioned me about my occupation, education level, degrees and inquired about my vehicle. These inquiries seemed unrelated to the alleged DUI and appeared unnecessary,” Larriett wrote in an affidavit attached to the lawsuit.

The troopers then conducted a series of sobriety tests in a “cold and dark alley,” he said. Larriett said he was only wearing pajamas. He insisted to troopers he had not been drinking or smoking marijuana that night. Nonetheless, Kanyuh allegedly told Larriett it was his “professional opinion” that he had THC in his system.

Okaiye, who is Black, also asked “unrelated” questions about his car and career, per Larriett. Troopers took him to the hospital where his blood was drawn. There was never a Breathalyzer test given, he said. The cops then drove him to the Berrien County Jail where he underwent an X-ray scan as part of the booking process, he said. It revealed an “anomaly in my stomach,” Larriett said.

They accused him of swallowing drugs “despite clear evidence from an X-ray machine that what they thought were drugs was simply gas,” Larriett said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press.