Last night my boyfriend and I got out of a cab a block from our house, walked ten feet, two cop trucks pulled up, briefly interrogated and frisked us both, handcuffed Melqui and put him in the back of the truck and drove off. I had no idea why.
His brother and I then took a cab to the downtown jail. For the next 4 hours we waited and watched as truckloads of men and a few women were delivered to the jail via the back of police pick up trucks. Some men looked homeless, others drunk, but some just looked like regular guys. None of them seemed very scared or upset. They would unload the men and then release many of them right away after answering a few questions at a window.
Finally, Melqui's truck pulled up. He was still handcuffed but now it was to another prisoner. They jumped out of the truck, stood up against a wall, got unhandcuffed, went up to a window, answered a few questions and got released.
Melqui said they asked him why he was arrested, he told them he had no idea and they let him go.
Melqui believes it's a quota thing. They have to pick up so many people a night. What else could it be? It cost us 30 bucks in cab fare and Melqui isn't going to work today because we got home at 5AM.
The next time you hear someone complain about criminals having too many rights in America think of Mexico and imagine this happening to you. People who sue police departments are protecting us all by keeping the police accountable. Due process is a good thing. Yes, it's better to have some criminals go free than to have innocent people plucked off the street and carted away for no reason.
I've joked that I prefer Mexico justice to American justice cause in Mexico you just hand the cop 20 bucks and walk away. But I'm not joking anymore. Last night was incredibly disturbing.
Another strike against Mexico.
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