Johnny Mims is the band director of Adamsville, Alabama’s Minor High School. On September 16, 2023, police in Birmingham tased and held him after he reportedly said he would stop his band from playing after a high school football game.
Some people in the community said that the police had broken Mims’ civil rights and used too much force, which caused outrage and discussion.
Some, though, said that the cops had to do what they did to keep safety and order. Mims was held overnight on charges of disorderly conduct, physical abuse, and fighting arrest. He was freed on bail the next day.
His legal team is going to sue the Birmingham Police Department, which is looking into the event on its own.
Johnny Mims Arrest: Is Alabama Band Director In Jail?
Page Contents
No, the director of the Alabama Band is no longer in jail. After being charged three times, he was released on bond.
According to the Birmingham Police Department, the event happened at P.D. Jackson-Olin High School, where both the Minor and Jackson-Olin High School bands had played before and after the football game. The time was about 9:30 p.m.
The cops told the leaders of both bands to stop their students’ performances because they were trying to get people out of the stadium 20 minutes after the game was over.
Mims didn’t do what he was told, but the band director at Jackson-Olin did. The cops said that Mims ignored their many requests and kept leading his group anyway.
As part of an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) custom called the “fifth quarter,” the marching band played music after the game.
On September 19, the police made the video from their body cameras public. In the video, a cop could be seen coming up to Mims on the benches and telling him to stop playing with the band.
After telling the officer that he would be arrested, Mims said, “That’s cool,” and told him to “get out of my face” many times.
On the tape, another woman who looked like a school official tried to convince Mims to stop the band, but he didn’t listen.
Then, as students and other people looked on, the video showed Mims fighting with at least two police officers as they tried to arrest him.
Mims denied hitting a police officer and fought against being arrested, so the police shocked him twice during the fight.
During the event, when the stadium lights went out, the chaos and confusion got worse.
Mims was taken to a hospital to get medical care after being put in jail.
After that, he was caught and put in the Birmingham City Jail on three charges: disorderly conduct, physical abuse, and fighting arrest. Mims got out of jail on September 17 after getting bail.
Johnny Mims Charges Faced: What Did He Do?
Mims was charged with three crimes for what he did during the episode. On September 17, he was freed on bail.
“Fighting or engaging in violent, tumultuous, or threatening behavior,” as well as making “unreasonable noise,” are all called disorderly conduct in Alabama.
Another kind of disorderly behavior is making something “physically offensive or dangerous for no good reason.”
If you act in an unruly way, you could get a $500 fine, three months in jail, or both.
direct abuse is defined as “making physical contact with him or her by hitting, pushing, kicking, or otherwise touching him or her.”
For physically bothering someone, the person could get a $500 fine, up to six months in jail, or both.
Resisting arrest means making it hard for a police officer to put you or someone else in custody for a good reason.
If you try to avoid being arrested, you could get a fine of up to $6,000 or a year in jail, or both. Juandalynn Givan, an attorney and state lawmaker, is in charge of Mims’ legal team.
Givan said in a statement that the Alabama Education Association and Mims’ law team will look into what happened and take civil action against the Birmingham Police Department.
He also said that the police “brutalized” the director and “illegally arrested” him. He said that the police broke Mims’ civil rights and overreacted to the physical attack on him.
Givan says that he was following a long-standing tradition in which cops have always treated HBCU outfits with little care.
People are being asked to be patient and helpful while the Birmingham Police Department does an internal review of an event.
Chief Scott Thurmond says that he is committed to being open and honest with the community to build good ties with them.
Also Read: All About Parker Posey’s Dating History, Current Boyfriend & More
