Rapper Nasir Fard, who goes by Gillie Da King, posted an encounter he had with a Texas cop onboard a jet bridge while boarding his American Airlines flight at Dallas-Fort Worth. I find the encounter surprising…and instructive.
Black Rapper Gillie Da King Claims White Police Officer Hassled Him While Boarding His American Airlines Flight Due To His Race; Texas Marshal Claims He Smelled Like Marijuana
King shared the following video on his Instagram page:
View this post on Instagram
He captioned it:
“Plane full of white folks leaving Dallas and the only black man is ask does he have illegal narcotics in his bag 🤦🏾♂️ U pick the wrong ni$$a today buddy”
In the video, a white man wearing a badge around his neck, apparently a Texas Ranger, is standing on a jet bridge. King then says:
“You walk up on me and ask me if I have illegal drugs in my bag. What are you talking about?”
The ranger responded, “Sir, you searched your own bag.” King said he searched his own bag because the officer asked to check it. The marshal replied, “No, no, no, no, no. Don’t lie for the camera.”
King responded:
“You walked up on me and picked me out. Get away from me. You picked me out for what? I’m probably the richest person on this plane.”
As King walked away, the marshal called out, “You smell like marijuana, and it’s illegal in Texas.”
King scoffed and walked away, calling out, “You picked the wrong one today.”
It’s an interesting exchange and I am frankly curious why the marshal backed down if he had the legal authority to interdict a passenger carrying illicit drugs (marijuana remains illegal in Texas and federally). Was he intimidated by the camera? And what’s up with the “richest person on the plane” comment? Are we supposed to be impressed by King?
There was one time a few years back that I accelerated quickly from a stop sign in my old Tesla. I was in Glendale, California and the cops pulled me over. I did not exceed the speed limit, but I got from zero to 40 mph in just about one second (the Model S P100D when from 0 to 60 in 2.3 seconds). The passenger next to me pulled out his phone and began recording the cop. It totally intimidated him…the guy just checked my license, handed it back to me, and walked away (not that he had any grounds to issue me a citation…).
See, I think the smell of marijuana is worse than most body odor and is about as bad as a soiled diaper. I also think Texas has a right to enforce its drug laws. Don’t like them? Don’t fly through Texas.
But if the marshal stopped King because he was black, then there is grounds for legal action (others are suing for similar allegations in Atlanta)…If the marshal stopped King because he reeked of marijuana and therefore he had reasonable suspicion King was carrying marijuana, then I see merely a regrettable situation, not an illegal (attempted) search.
But are cops so scared these days of appearing racist or violent that they will back down when pushed back upon? That’s quite instructive…and why I favor cops wearing body cams at all times while on duty. I also hope cops have better things to do than hassle passengers leaving their state. While “slave catcher” may be a bit too much, I wish cops would not be busybodies. If a loser wants to smoke pot and is not doing so openly…live and let live, or in this case, live and let’s fly.
This also reminds me of the encounter I had on the jet bridge in San Salvador…
> Read More: Interrogated At El Salvador International Airport…By U.S. Federal Agents
CONCLUSION
A prominent black rapper pushed back against a Texas Marshal after being stopped for a “drug search” while boarding an American Airlines flight. When he was accused of smelling like marijuana, he scoffed at the cop and walked onboard. The marshal just let him go. If you were just going to let him go, why stop in the first place? It’s not a good look for the cop, no matter his intention. Or was the stop wrong in the first place?
(H/T: View From The Wing)
body cams and all the tech ARE the problem, Matthew.
Digital wi-fi / bluetooth radiation…messes with HOW we think…study it. Not a natural wave form.
Cops are brimming with “technology” on the body, in the car, etc…digital radios, laptops in the car, etc…
When I was about 13 my teacher asked me to written essay that defined “irony”. I really struggled to write that essay. I wish that your comment had been available to me back then, but that was a long, long time ago.
“…Digital wi-fi / bluetooth radiation…messes with HOW we think…study it… ” I’ll be wearing my aluminum foil hat from now on. Thanks for the info.
I’ll start studying it by using a wifi/bluetooth equipped device to search around the click-driven internet, only the purest of all knowledge is contained in such a place.
Pick your fights. This was hardly worth confronting someone over. He wasn’t openly using, was not bothering anyone, or appeared to be creating any scenes prior. So why? For a potential misdemeanor fine? Because he smelled like weed? Further, my assumption is that the “Texas Ranger” (whatever that is) may have been a passenger on the flight as I’ve never seen them walking around airports in plain clothing. A total idiot for potentially escalating nothing into something, especially if you are not even technically on duty.
Maybe when this ranger returns to Dallas he can hang out by the airport bar and hand out public intoxication tickets to everyone heading to their gates
A Texas Ranger is a state level detective. This incident seems like small change to an investigative officer.
I don’t know this is worthy of playing the race card, but I would have been upset too if he simply thinks he smelled a little Mary J on me.
This is what happens when a busybody and a narcissist clash I guess.
“Smelling” of mj is a ruse – it is completely subjective and unprovable. An hour later the accused could smell differently. The ruse is used to fabricate probable cause for the officer to conduct a warrantless search and attempt to find something chargeable and to seize any cash, gift cards, etc.. It’s called policing for profit and it’s happening more and more on airline jet bridges. The accused is trapped in a situation of not wanting to miss their flight and psychologically pressured into giving in to the demands of the police. Then, if let go suffers the looks of everyone onboard for hours.
I’ve had cops come up to me a try to pull this stuff. A buddy and I were out fishing and smoking cigars which smell completely different. Two cops walk up and say you smell like mj, can we search. I politely declined, they separated us and questioned us. I had the wanna be narc officer who was grilling me, I knew I was in the right so I stood my ground. Eventually they backed down. The other cop who was questioning my buddy relented that it didn’t smell like mj. Sometimes cops are just blow hards who having nothing better to do than hastle folks
The context of the video, taken as a whole, suggests that the Ranger asked Mr. Ford if there were any illegal drugs in his bag, and Mr. Ford opened the bag and showed him the items in it, showing that there were no illegal drugs. The video starts just after that point– Mr. Ford is seen repacking the bag, and the Ranger is saying “you searched your own bag”…
I think the Ranger appeared on the video as a way to let his side be shown in the video, and when he walks away it is not backing down due to fear of exposure but rather acknowledging that Mr. Ford has proven that he is not carrying drugs.
Good observation Mr. Marcus, the officer did exactly what I want him to do.
Racist and other harassment done on the basis of suspect suspicion by questionable
law enforcement times is counterproductive. It undermines trust in and the public benefits gotten from fair and unprejudiced treatment by law enforcement.
Where faith in the fairness of law enforcement drops, criminality finds deeper roots because of it. And that’s what you want? Racist policing is a bad approach if truly wanting to create a safer Texas/America
Where is the racism here, is it because the cop was white and the other man is black? I would expect the same of the cop if the man was not black. You suspect there was racism, can you provide evidence of that?
It could be racist if this guy was only person the ranger searched.
He performs under the name “Gillie the Kid”. GillietheKing is his Instagram handle. It’s bizarre in how you attribute him as “King” throughout this post.
“therefore he had reasonable suspicious” … suspicions?
“But if the marshal stopped King because he was back,” … black?
These topics require a little more attention to detail.
Honestly. Never talk to the cops. You don’t have to answer their questions.
They ask you if you can open the door? The answer is no thank you.
They ask if you can roll down the window? The answer is no thank you (hand them your license through a crack in the window.
They ask you seemingly innocuous questions? Just don’t say anything.
They ask where you’re going? You just politely decline to answer.
Your go-to phrases when around cops are “I respectfully decline to answer that question” and “Am I being detained or am I free to go?”
No reason ever to answer cops’ questions. They’re not looking to be your friend.
Don’t disagree with your point here but if you haven’t done anything wrong, wouldn’t answering the questions make the situation a bit easier? Not answering anything might escalate the situation in my view. I hate talking to cops and I don’t do anything wrong to give them a chance to talk to me.
I believe the 5th amendment exists to protect the innocent. Nothing to hide can also mean.nothing to say.
Are you in a rental car and have no idea what might have been left behind?
Are you on your way home from dinner and might have had just a glass of wine?
Are you clear on the laws for how much liquor you’re allowed to transport and is is clearly labeled and sealed!
Is everything on your car in working order?
Do you have any medications in your bag that might be in a pill holder instead of a labeled bottle with a prescription?
Are you here on a green card and are you carrying that with you?
Are you traveling to or from a state where cannabis is legal?
These are all justifications for a cop to make your day worse and answering yes or no to any of those questions is why you don’t talk to a cop unless you’re under arrest and have representation. It’s not escalation. They are trained to squeeze you for information while society has taught you to comply.
This exactly. This is why, if a cop starts asking you questions, you STFU.
I never understood what you are advocating. You don’t have to answer or do those things but why not? Isn’t it the polite thing to do? It’s not like you are confessing to some crime when you answer them. why make their job more difficult? and if they are in the wrong and get all bent out of shape and you end up being detained for awhile, is it worth it just so you can be in the right?
I never was one for confrontation. (unless warranted) But then that’s just me.
However, being friendly to a police officer might get you a warning. I got a verbal warning last month from a police officer of a small town known for giving out a lot of tickets. I think it was because he didn’t turn on his radar and only estimated my speed as he was turning out of a gas station to go to the opposite direction.
That advice might work if you are White, but good luck with that if you aren’t…
I hear what you all are saying. And don’t be an a-hole. Be polite. But…the police aren’t trying to be your friend. They’re often trying to suss out info from you that they have no right to actually know. So don’t give it to them.
This is most helpful in situations where there actually IS risk that the cops are looking at you for something, or looking at your friend or family member.
“Can we come in?” No.
“Is s/he at home with you?” None of your business.
People often reflexively feel like they HAVE to answer the police’s questions. You emphatically do not. (Obviously if they pull you over you will need to give them your license, but if you’re walking on the street and they ask you for ID, or for your name, you are usually under no obligation to provide anything…keep abreast of what your rights are in your state!)
I mean if you have blood on our face and a knife on the passenger seat, this isn’t going to get you very far.
That STINK WEED really smells like a dead SKUNK… It is unmistakable in the odor…Not fun for anyone sitting or standing near these pot heads… They actually think they do not stink when I have confronted them myself???They can smoke their brains out but take a shower before hanging with the public.
“I’m probably the richest person on this plane.” Done! It says all about this guy. Black, white, red, green, yellow, etc… never, ever pull the rich card.
If he was in fact the richest man on the plane, why was he flying commercial? I would have chartered my own private jet…js
Doesn’t matter his reasons for flying commercial. His wealth should have no bearing on the matter.
Your argument makes no sense, if someone else on that plane was richer than him than they too should have been flying privately (he said he was the richest person on the plane not the richest person in the world).
This doesn’t make sense because the supposed law officer wasn’t even in uniform. It appears he was just a guy traveling, and he probably had no duty to perform at the time. If he was on duty, he certainly didn’t do it in a normal, expected fashion. It appears he was trying to project his authority (if he actually had any when on duty) at a time when he was, in fact, off duty. That whole concept creates great difficulties for himself and for the person he is confronting. Most of us, regardless of color, would be hesitant to pay much attention to a guy in leisure clothes with a badge hanging on his neck which may or may not be real. Most of us would figure he was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.
I know someone who was on this flight. He runs a private equity firm. I’m pretty sure he’s much richer than this guy.
That’s your big picture takeaway lol?
Your friend is worth more than 100 million?
I think you’re oversimplifying the legal aspect of what happened here:
1. Sure, cannabis is theoretically illegal in Texas, but many DAs in many urban parts of the state are refusing to prosecute simple possession charges. I’m sure the Tarrant County DA has no interest in slapping this guy with any sort of simple possession charge. It would get dropped before anything happened.
2. Was there probable cause for a search? I don’t know the answer definitively, but I’m guessing that a non-consensual search based on the claim of an officer that someone “smelled” of cannabis probably wouldn’t meet that threshold. Lot’s of people consume cannabis. Someone could have smoked around him. He could have smoked earlier that day (or week) in another state where it’s legal.
3. Though some people may not want to view this through a racial lens, it’s difficult not to. Police have been bothering people on jet bridges in Atlanta for quite some time, and the statistics truly do show racial bias. If law enforcement in DFW has decided to follow their lead, they’re going to need to do better than their counterparts in Georgia if they want to be taken seriously. I live in Texas and probably have a close friend fly through DFW every day. I would say 90% of the time they’re in possession of cannabis because that’s the reality of life in 2022.
Unless people are actively in harms way, I don’t think there’s ever a need for law enforcement to approach passengers on a jet bridge boarding a flight. Actions like this will never make the public at large trust law enforcement. I don’t see how it serves any benefit to society.
I agree with your last paragraph.
I have a similar cowboy hat. I just need to grab a badge of off eBay, and then I can stop random people in the airport.
Police and other security types are known to sometimes hassle people on a racist basis and claim that the target of the racism is intoxicated or giving off indications of being drunk or having recently used drugs. I’ve also seen this done even police and n9n-police security types in Europe against individual males whom I know to not drink any alcohol and have no drug use history but just happened to be “brown” and “black” minorities who encountered racist pricks in these kind of positions. Police and other security types lying about suspected drug use by individuals who happen to be ethnic minorities? Seen it too often to deny that this kind of racist thing happens way too often in way too many places.
He just signed a $100 million podcast deal with Barstool Sports and is frequently towards the top of the podcast charts, so he probably was the richest person on the plane.
To quickly nitpick on side issue here:
CA Vehicle Code 23109(c) VC reads: “(c) A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on a highway, and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of speed on any highway.”
Commonly referred to as “Exhibition of speed”, it is a ticketable driving offence in many jurisdictions. Teslas and other vehicles with very fast acceleration could be seen as dangerous as the amount of ground you cover is disproportional to your reaction time. So you may not be correct in assuming there was no ticketable offence in your encounter. Not saying he was right to pull you over or that you were driving dangerously, but there is a valid legal argument for an infraction that may well hold up in court. Just because the car CAN go 0-60 in 3 seconds doesn’t mean it’s legal in all situations 🙂
Texas! As their State motto says, “It’s like a whole other country”! Oh, no doubt!
I was born in that backward State and swallowed the cool aid they spew and thought it was the center of the Universe!
However, upon graduating high school I took a trip to both New York City, San Francisco and the coastal drive to Los Angeles. That was in 1978. Upon my return home I began my plan to move as soon as possible. I chose Los Angeles.
Texas is undoubtedly rife with the likes of the man in the video. Proudly displaying his badge. Puke! I myself have encountered the same mentality of TSA agents in Tyler and Dallas.
You couldn’t pay me to move back to that nutty State. Ignorance is a choice, and it’s in plentiful supply regardless of its growth and change in diversity over the decades.
Well, I’m afraid there’s no more room for civility, good manners, etiquette. We are intimidated for just looking at people. Nonetheless, we’re seen as enemies in our own neighborhood. I’m from a time that catching a flight was an event, a pleasurable one. We’d compliment anyone, smile, have some light hearted jokes. We have come a long way.
It seems like you should have done a bit more research on this officer’s behavior. He is part of a sting that has been operating and documented elsewhere in the news. Maybe you already did but left out the facts. They target passengers based on looks and approach them asking them if they have drugs. They have no authority to search their bags and rely on intimidation to search bags. Out of over 400 suspects they found some sort of illegal drugs on 2 and let them go. At the same time they confiscated cash from some of them but arrested I think none or perhaps one. Racial profiling at it’s finest. They need to stop bothering PoC and fight crime instead.
Link? Please post.
I think Ryan is referring to statistics that Gary Leff posted (Oct 12) regarding similar events that have been occurring at ATL, and has been covered fairly heavily by local and national media. Somewhat tangentially related to the point I made earlier, it wouldn’t be inconceivable for this to start happening in Dallas…
If you view the AP as trustworthy (who doesn’t?), here’s the link:
https://apnews.com/article/police-lawsuits-race-and-ethnicity-77e938ed070a74947a83c89d0cf9f426
I linked to the ATL lawsuit in my story above.
If you don’t like Texas, stay the hell out. Way too many Californians, Chicagoans and New Yorkers are moving there. They screw up their own state, decide it isn’t livable, and then move to Texas and bring their same idiotic policies that messed up from whence they just came. If you love NY, then stay there and push each other in front of subways..
Tobacco kills over 7 million people every year but no one gets arrested for reeking of tobacco.
Marijuana kills zero people every year.
Tobacco cartels pay police states to arrest and execute those who dare smoke anything besides tobacco.
My problem with the police officers comment that he “smelled like Marijuana” is that this is a known police tactic to search for other things. For example during a traffic stop “the car/the person smells like Marijuana” is used to call in a K9 unit — the dog then “alerts” and then they can search for what they are really interested in: money. In many cases this is more about a civil asset (money) forfeiture during the search than about an actual drug violation.
That guy certainly didn’t seem high to me and I bet if you walked by him you wouldn’t smell Marijuana.
He knew he was being recorded so probably just repeated that claim to cover his ass in case an investigation happens for racially profiling him.
Another infantile black man
As opposed to the white man?
Another clueless “Chad” who has no idea about being black in America.
I work in DFW Airport, and walk the terminals daily. There isn’t a day where I don’t catch a whiff of it. The police have bigger fish to fry than to deal with such pettiness.
Matt, I’m sure you pissed off a good portion of your readers with this sentence: “If a loser wants to smoke pot and is not doing so openly…”. You imply that people who consume cannabis are “losers”; a tired trope of prohibitionists and Drug War enthusiasts. Your prejudice reeks worse than comparing the smell of cannabis to baby poop. Your negative attitude is inconsistent with “Live and Let Live”. I’ve earned millions in the legal cannabis industryand am proud that cannabis law reform send fewer people to prison. So who’s the loser, Matt? Based on your writing on this issue, I can only conclude it is you.
Feel free to light up – I’m not trying to block it. But I find the smell repulsive and find the regulatory reductions in California have only spawned a proliferation of the black market since taxes on pot are so high. It’s a total failure.
I get it Matt. In fact, I don’t much like the smell of burning plant matter myself and advise against any form of smoking. I am from L.A. as well and I agree that legalization has failed in many respects. The black market does still thrive because of over-regulation and high taxes (due to federal prohibition). But we must respect the fact that legalization in California has stopped law enforcement from harassing, arresting and jailing citizens (mostly minority citizens) for possessing some flowers that they can now grow at home. I currently live in Brazil where the prohibition of cannabis has the same unwholesome result for millions of poor people. Just like the gentleman boarding the plane in Texas, it would be unfair and unkind to characterize those folks as “losers”.
The richest person on the plane comment is likely true given that he just signed a $100 million dollar deal with Barstool sports last month.
I wouldn’t expect you to understand the reason for his comment since you’re white. However, as a black person, his only privilege (protection) is that he’s incredibly wealthy and well connected. He made this comment to ensure that the officer fully understood the ramifications of falsely accusing him of a crime and in hopes that in doing so the officer wouldn’t escalate things to the point where he became injured or killed. It appears that it worked and he’s alive to tell his story.