Political consultant claims profiling in Detroit traffic stop

A long-time Detroit political consultant is blasting Detroit Police he says treated him like a "thug" after he was pulled over for running a red light.

But police say it was the driver who was out of line.

Adolph Mongo wrote an article over the weekend on Deadline Detroit where he accused Detroit Police of harassing black men. Detroit Police say, however, it was Mongo who is to blame.

The truth may be in the video, which FOX 2 obtained, of this seemingly routine traffic stop. The first 16 minutes of which are completely silent due to a technical issue.

Officer Juan Windham has been a Detroit Police officer for 22 years. Wednesday, he was involved in a traffic stop he won't forget when he pulled over Mongo.

"You're an as*****. You're an as*****," Mongo could be heard shouting during the stop. When Windham told him to stop swearing in public he threatened to lock up the political activist. A threat Mongo said he welcomed.

Mongo was pulled over on August 5th and accused of running a red light on Jefferson. He was driving his red Ford Mustang convertible at the time. He says what happened next led him to write the article on Deadline Detroit  where he claimed racial profiling in a downtown that doesn't welcome blacks.

"I was real pissed, Mongo said. "I was real pissed. Yeah I called him an as*****. He called me a thief, he implied certain things so yeah I was arguing with a cop.

"I respect the police department, they got a tough job to do, but to take a traffic stop and turn it into something crazy is unbelievable."

On Monday, Detroit Police and the city responded with video of the traffic stop and claimed Mongo was berating and baiting the officer - who is also African-American.

Mongo did not have his license on him when he was stopped and his insurance did not show up in the computer system. Instead, the system showed a warrant out of Flint. Mongo argued that wasn't correct and the officer decided to impound his car.

"That's the law," the offficer could be heard saying on video. "If you don't have (any) insurance or license, I can impound your car, because if you're going to have an accident, they can sue me!"

Mongo argued that he does have a license and then called someone to bring it to him. Once it was there, the officer checked it and the computer system said it was ineligible.

However, it's actually valid but does have a hold due to unpaid parking tickets.

"Why don't you just take me in okay," Mongo said on the video.

The officer said he didn't want to be taken in and the two argued as the officer tries to show Mongo the computer screen.

"Sir, if you want to go in I can take you in, but I'm not trying to take you in," the officer said. "I'm trying to tell you that you don't have a license. Get out of my face. Get out of here. You are free to leave I've told you five times you are free to leave now. If you want to go to jail I'll take you to jail."

The officer does an inventory on the car before it's towed while Mongo gets on the phone and calls Police Chief James Craig.

Craig told Mongo to tell the officer to call for a supervisor, which he did.

The officer explained to the supervisor that he stopped Mongo with no license or insurance. He told the supervisor that Mongo called him names and was being disorderly. He said he was trying to write the tickets and impound the vehicle.

It wasn't until after the car was towed they found out Mongo did have insurance, the company just hadn't registered it with the state.

Regardless, Chief Craig says he stands by his officer and his actions. If it had been him, he says, Mongo would have been under arrest.

"I would not have put up with that," Craig said. "I would have maintained a highly professional decorum but at the same time, to be berated, to have profanity directed in the manner of which it was, that in my mind constitutes disorderly conduct."

Craig said he does not believe this is evidence of racial profiling and that the city welcomes anyone.

Mongo claims in his Deadline Detroit article that the officer alleged that he got his car through drug money in some manner in the beginning of the video. That part of the video that we could not hear any conversation because of the technical issue.