An African-American driver in Winfield, Kansas, was pulled over by two white police officers May 13 for "vegetation stuff" on his car window, according to a Facebook Live video posted by driver Rudy Samuel.
Samuel started recording the traffic stop soon after it happened, when one of the officers first told Samuel he was pulled over for failing to signal.
"Officer says I failed to put my signal light on within a hundred feet," Samuel said in the recording.
"And it wasn't a hundred feet, but whatever."
Samuel handed over his valid driver's license and registration and the officer returned to the squad car, but when he came back, he gave a different reason for pulling Samuel over.
"Hey Mr. Samuel, what caught my attention was this vegetation stuff right here," the officer said as he pulled something from the outside of the car.
Samuel indicated the vegetation was probably from a tree and said he doesn’t smoke.
The officer asked Samuel to get out of the car so police could search it. When Samuel refused, they pulled him out, handcuffed him and searched the vehicle anyway. They didn't find anything and eventually let him go with two verbal warnings.
Samuel believes the incident was racially motivated, a spokesman for the driver told CNN.
Peter Wright is with the grassroots group Freedom 1 Organization, which says it looks for fair ways to solve complaints against police and other companies, CNN reported.
"He kept saying 'test it.' They snatched him out of the car, handcuffed him and banged him around a little bit," Wright told CNN.
The police chief of Winfield, Brett Stone, also told CNN the incident is "under review."
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