‘Never Were the Guns Lowered’: Texas Cops Terrorized Black Air Force Vet In Uniform Over False Claim Her Truck Was Stolen — Blame Human Error, Not Racism
A trio of incompetent Texas cops pulled over an innocent Black woman at gunpoint last year, handcuffing and placing her in the back seat of a patrol car before realizing they had misread her license plate, confusing her truck with one that had been stolen. Now Joi Hebron, who has served in the U.S. Air Force for nearly two decades, has filed a lawsuit against the San Antonio Police Department, accusing the three cops of racial profiling. It was the umpteenth time police in this country have pulled over Black people at gunpoint after misreading their license plates, as Atlanta Black Star has reported many times over the years. And it’s not just human error because several Black people have been falsely arrested and attacked by police dogs because of errors committed by computer license plate readers as well. Joi Hebron, who has served for nearly 20 years in the United States Air Force, has filed a lawsuit after she was pulled over by gunpoint by Texas cops who falsely accused her of driving a stolen car. (Photo: KSAT-TV) Hebron was pulled over on July 15, 2024, after she had left her home early one morning in her 2016 Ford F-150 dressed in her Air Force physical training uniform on her way to Lackland Air Force Base where she works as a military training instructor. It was about 4:30 a.m. when Hebron noticed a police car following her but she did not think much of it since she was not doing anything illegal. But after a few minutes, she noticed three police cars following her which was when she became concerned for her safety. The cops turned on their emergency lights to pull her over which she promptly did, according to the federal lawsuit which names the city of San Antonio as a defendant, naming the three officers who pulled her over as Robert Garcia along with two officers identified by only their surnames, Rodriguez and Dech. The cops ordered her out at gunpoint, refusing to tell her why they had pulled her over. It was only after they handcuffed her that they told her “her tags came back dirty” — indicating she was driving a stolen car — a boneheaded blunder that could have easily led to her death. One cop placed her in the back of a patrol car while the other two searched her truck without her consent or a warrant. And it was only after Rodriguez was sitting in the driver’s seat of the patrol car that he began typing her information into a computer that he realized they had made a huge mistake. Without saying anything to Hebron who was handcuffed in the back of the patrol car, Rodriguez stepped out of the car and began talking to Dech, informing the cop of their blunder. ‘I’m Not a Terrorist’ After acknowledging their mistake, Rodriguez opened the back seat of the patrol car, telling Hebron, “We saw your uniform hanging in the back” before releasing her, the claim states. Upon being released Ms. Hebron was still in fear for her life, she walked to the back of her truck and started to cry. Ms. Hebron said to Officer Rodriguez, “I thought I was going to be shot because of the color of my skin, I am a believer.” Mrs. Hebron was not provided with a proper explanation as to why she was stopped at gun point and detained on July 15, 2024. More than a year later, Hebron is still affected by having three guns pointed at her for doing nothing more than commuting to work. “I’m not a terrorist,” Hebron told KSAT-TV. “I’m on U.S. soil. I had on my Air Force PT gear, which had an Air Force emblem on the back of my shirt. Never were the guns lowered.” Authorities Refuse to Release Police Video KSAT-TV said it has requested video footage of the detainment but police denied her request, claiming they were forbidden to do so by the Texas attorney general because of the pending lawsuit. But law enforcement agencies release video all the time during pending lawsuits, especially if it paints them in a more favorable light. San Antonio police declined to be interviewed by the local news station but provided the following statement, denying the allegations of racial profiling. At this point, there is no indication that the SAPD stop was anything other than human error and not prompted by racial profiling or discrimination. We regret that the person was detained briefly before the error was corrected. But the lawsuit accuses the law enforcement agency of violating her Fourth and 14th Amendment rights by allowing a “policies and procedures to continue in force and effect which resulted in the use of racial profiling.” Plaintiff was racially provided by Defendant’s Officers because she was an American who happens to be Black, when they racially profiled her by running her license plate in violation of her constitutional rights. Plaintiff asserts she was was merely driving on to her duty station as an employee of the United States Air Force, to start her active duty tour. Defendant’s Officer Garcia, took exception to the fact that Plaintiff, an American who happens to be Black, was driving an expensive truck with out of state license plate and decided to run her license plate. Plaintiff when seeking an explanation from Defendant’s Officers why she was being stopped, ordered to exit her truck, and handcuffed, was denied an explanation as to why she was stopped. Said actions constituted a use of force that was clearly excessive and unreasonable under clearly established law based on the individual articulable circumstances of this case. ‘My Life was in Danger’ The false detainment still affects Hebron today where she is now in constant fear of police and has become socially withdrawn, suffering from depression, anxiety and insomnia. Ms. Hebron is in constant fear of police officers and she is in constant fear that she will be stopped and once again held at gun point for no reason, and possibly being shot. Before July 15, 2024, Ms. Hebron’s mother described Ms. Hebron as being a very social and outgoing person. After July 15, 2024, Ms. Hebron’s mother describe her as being antisocial person, apprehensive, wanting to stay in the house, fear of the police, and existing unusual sleep habits. Ms. Hebron after July 15, 2024 has expressed an extreme fear of police officers to her mother and does everything within her power to avoid them. “This woman could have been killed if she had done anything other than what they asked her to do,” Hebron’s attorney, Markes Kirkwood, told KSAT-TV. “Ms. Hebron was stopped because she was a Black woman in a predominantly white neighborhood in a nice-looking truck. And she was stopped for no reason,” Kirkwood. Hebron, who has not yet respond to an interview request from Atlanta Black Star, said she was in fear for her life and remains so today. “I thought, then and now, my life was in danger,” Hebron told KSAT-TV.
