CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Attorneys for the city of Chicago say police pulled over Dexter Reed Jr. for tinted windows — not failing to wear a seatbelt, as the police department originally stated after officers fatally shot him this spring.
The reason for the March traffic stop has been the subject of lots of debate, with the head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) and Reed’s mother Nicole Banks calling for more transparency.
In the lawsuit she filed, Banks accused the police department of stopping her son as part of a pattern and practice of racial profiling and quotas. Her attorneys call the city’s motion to dismiss the civil suit a complete waste of taxpayer dollars, citing the dispute over why officers stopped him.
COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten previously said her office was told officers pulled over Reed for a seatbelt violation, something the agency seriously questioned in light of his tinted windows.
Reed was killed by Chicago police officers who fired 96 shots after Reed fired at an officer.
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