57-year-old Regina Armstead and 67-year-old Michael Lewis were driving home from dinner on November 6, 2020, when Rosenburg, Texas, police pulled them over. They were looking for three teenagers with a gun.
So then why did they hold this adult couple at gunpoint?
"If that's the case, they're gone now, you're fooling with us," said Armstead. But instead of apologizing and letting the couple go, police handcuffed her, pointing guns at her as they ordered her to exit the car. For 45 minutes, they searched her car, confiscating whatever they wanted.
Lewis, who had an AV fistula indicating his kidney disease, was also detained. And though Armstead warned them he couldn't have his wrists restrained, police handcuffed him anyway - resulting in him needing three medical procedures afterward!
It's no surprise that Rosenburg police have a pattern of targeting disabled and medically vulnerable people.
But "mistaken identity" cases are also in no way isolated incidents. Police jailed a young Black man while hunting a middle-aged white man. They've used the wrong woman on a wanted poster. They attacked a 12-year-old Black girl when they were looking for three white adult women!
We all make mistakes. But when the goal of the police system is to criminalize and brutalize Black people, police don't just "mistake identities." They see all of us as targets.