Two officers racially profiled a woman at her own home — she was a federal judge. They ignored her rights, threw her phone, and spewed slurs. | HO
The morning coffee was still steaming when Judge Patricia Williams heard the commotion outside her front door. She had been preparing for another day on the federal bench, reviewing case files for the afternoon sentencing hearing. Then came the aggressive knocking that would destroy two police careers and send shock waves through the justice system.
Body camera footage from that Tuesday morning would later rack up over 25 million views, spark congressional hearings, and result in the harshest penalties ever imposed for racial profiling in her state’s history.
At 52 years old, Judge Williams had spent the last decade as a federal judge appointed by the president himself. Before that, she served eight years as a district attorney. She lived quietly in an upscale neighborhood, drove a modest sedan, and was known by neighbors as the woman who organized the annual block party.
That Tuesday morning started like any other. Judge Williams had woken early, gone for her usual jog, and returned home to prepare for work. She lived in a beautiful colonial house she had purchased three years earlier, complete with a manicured lawn and flower beds she tended herself on weekends.
At exactly 7:23 a.m., officers Daniel Reeves and Marcus Thompson pulled into her driveway. They were responding to what they claimed was a suspicious person report. Someone had allegedly called about a Black woman who didn’t belong in the neighborhood. Someone who had been seen entering and leaving the house at strange hours.
