On Feb. 13, Jimmy Uso was arrested by Detroit police for “disorderly conduct”, and the dialogue surrounding the incident was largely one-sided, with only police sources speaking about the incident and few media outlets examining the situation critically.
If you are a Person of Color in the United States, especially a Black man, you know first-hand how dangerous an interaction with the police can be. Situations that should be resolved peaceful can become fatal, and my colleague Joe Anthony Myrick, a Black man who has lived in the Detroit area all of his life, told me this in a piece last month:
"“As a resident of Detroit, I know for a fact that the cops here are no joke. Jimmy Uso is super lucky that all that cop pulled out was a taser. This whole situation could’ve gone really bad, but thankfully, both Jimmy and his wife are okay.”"
The situation? On Feb. 13, Naomi, a Black woman, was stopped by Detroit police officers for driving on the wrong side of the road. Smelling alcohol in the car, the police inquired more and learned that her husband Jimmy Uso, a Samoan man, had been drinking heavily. According to them, they asked Jimmy to step out of the car, and he “squared up” for a fight, causing them to pull out a taser and arrest Jimmy for “disorderly conduct”.
This account, of course, came entirely from police sources in a report by TMZ, with no alternative accounts mentioned.
And as another colleague, Patches Chance, a White man who has worked in a police department, told me in the same article, “police sources” are far from infallible. Furthermore, “disorderly conduct” charges can be sketchy.
"“Based on my experience working in law enforcement for five years, the circumstances of this arrest sound unfortunately flimsy. There is a saying in law enforcement that someone can be arrested for “POP,” which stands for “pissed off the police.” As crass as it may sound, it’s not uncommon for a police officer to choose to arrest someone because of their anger in the way a situation was handled. Even if someone hasn’t done anything wrong, it isn’t difficult for officers to find simple charges to justify an arrest.Disorderly conduct is a low-level ticketable offense in many states, on par with a speeding ticket. Obstruction is rare as a valid charge, and is often removed as a case moves forward. If Jimmy Uso had exited the vehicle only because he wanted to see his wife’s interaction with police clearly, or even to film it, both things that are absolutely legal, it’s certainly possible that an officer could have acted unreasonably and escalated the situation.Once an officer starts to get frustrated or raise their voice, it doesn’t take long for a taser or firearm to be pulled and a situation to worsen dramatically. It’s important to remember that we don’t yet have an account from Jimmy Uso or Naomi, but only the report from “police sources,” who would have a clear incentive to frame things in a way that makes an officer appear firmly in the right for his actions, no matter how rash they may have been.”"
Black wrestling fans are already well-aware of this – and know far more about this topic than I – and they immediately knew not to take the police’s words at face value. Thinking critically is imperative in these situations, yet many media outlets and fans were quick to jump all over Jimmy, especially with news that he and his brother Jey are still in contract negotiations with WWE.
The wrestling fans who weren’t fully buying the police’s story were unsurprised when police body cam footage failed to show Jimmy Uso “squaring up” to officers. In fact, both Naomi and Jimmy seemed extremely peaceful in the footage, with Jimmy saying, “Man, you don’t understand. I’m just here in and out. I’m in and out, man.”
Those words are important. Naomi was only pulled over for driving on the wrong side of the road, and anyone who has lived in a city like Detroit or Cleveland understands that there are so many “hidden” one-way streets; people from out of town frequently don’t see the barely-visible signs, especially when it’s dark at night, and mistakenly drive on the wrong side of the road. It happens a ton, and Jimmy is basically telling the cops, “Hey look, we’re in and out of towns as WWE Superstars. We just didn’t know our way around here, and it was an honest mistake.”
An honest mistake that resulted in police pulling a taser on Jimmy, arresting him (which can damage someone’s reputation in an era where the police’s word is taken as gospel over a Person of Color’s), and potentially lying about him “squaring up” in an effort to justify the arrest. And even if they weren’t lying, should Jimmy have been arrested for a situation that was under control and initially stemmed from an honest mistake that the police themselves escalated by asking Jimmy, who was not driving the vehicle while intoxicated, to step out of the car?
Of course, this incident could have been much worse. It is worth noting that the police officers in the footage are Black and that Jimmy is an NBPOC (Non-Black Person of Color, an increasingly important distinction), which can explain why everyone came out of this safe in what was likely a scary situation (listen to how shaken Naomi is in the footage by what has happened to her husband).
However, police bias is systemic, and the officers were likely following a protocol – or even receiving orders from their superiors in that moment – that is targeting. So while the individual officers may not have been stereotyping, the culture and the expectations set by the department likely governed that Jimmy would have a taser pulled on him, be arrested, and then potentially be smeared by anonymous sources as an unruly and aggressive drunk.
I think this arrest should continue an important conversation among wrestling fans about bias, systemic issues, and race, especially with Kofi Kingston embroiled in a racially-charged storyline that could see him become the first Black WWE Champion since The Rock. Ultimately, nothing serious happened to Jimmy or Naomi, but as many of us know, it is fortunate that both were safe. It is a low bar to set, but at least the police only arrested Jimmy and threatened using a taser (again, likely because of protocol from the department), as opposed to anything that would have caused either Jimmy or Naomi physical harm.