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Police dispute Daniele Watts racism claim and say couple were having sex in public Police dispute Daniele Watts racism claim and say witness reported couple were having sex in public
(2 days later)
The Los Angeles police officer accused of showing racial bias during the detainment of Django Unchained actor Daniele Watts because she was kissing her white partner has said he was called to the scene because the couple were having sex in public.LAPD sergeant Jim Parker denied suggestions by Watts that he had accused her of prostitution, calling the claims “malicious and false statements”. Watts, who is black and who played the slave Coco in Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed 2012 film, said she felt “humiliated” by the incident, which occurred in the Studio City neighbourhood on Thursday 11 September. However, Parker told the Hollywood Reporter he was responding to reports that a couple were having sex in a car in broad daylight with the door open.He says a caller told the police: “They were fucking. He was in the passenger seat with his legs outside.” Parker says the couple were not engaged in intercourse when he arrived on the scene, but insists he was right to pursue inquiries. The caller had provided a description of the make and licence plate of the car and a full description of Watts and her partner, Brian James Lucas, a celebrity chef. “People don’t make this shit up,” said the sergeant.On a leaked police recording of the incident, Parker can be heard telling a clearly upset Watts: “Somebody’s made a call, which means it gives me the right to be here. It gives me the right to identify you. By law.”The actor replies: “Do you know how many times the cops have been called just because we’re black? Just because we’re black and he’s white? I’m just being really honest, sir.”Parker accuses Watts of playing the race card, and she in turn continues to furiously insist she does not need to provide her ID. Finally the officer is heard requesting a female colleague’s presence.Watts has said she was “showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place” when she was handcuffed and detained. She posted photographs of the encounter on her Facebook page, one highlighting an injury to her wrist she said was caused by handcuffs, another showing herself in tears, standing next to a low wall with her hands restrained behind her back and an officer questioning her. Lucas, who has appeared on television as a gourmet raw-food chef, posted that the officers “saw a tatted RAWKer white boy and a hot bootie shorted black girl and thought we were a HO & a TRICK”.Parker, however, says he recorded his encounter with Watts and Lucas and is confident he did nothing wrong. He says he and the two other police officers who attended would have been relieved of duty by now had it not been for the recording.Watts has since appeared on CNN’s New Day programme with Lucas to explain why she refused to show her ID. The LAPD has confirmed it is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.The Los Angeles police officer accused of showing racial bias during the detainment of Django Unchained actor Daniele Watts because she was kissing her white partner has said he was called to the scene because the couple were having sex in public.LAPD sergeant Jim Parker denied suggestions by Watts that he had accused her of prostitution, calling the claims “malicious and false statements”. Watts, who is black and who played the slave Coco in Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed 2012 film, said she felt “humiliated” by the incident, which occurred in the Studio City neighbourhood on Thursday 11 September. However, Parker told the Hollywood Reporter he was responding to reports that a couple were having sex in a car in broad daylight with the door open.He says a caller told the police: “They were fucking. He was in the passenger seat with his legs outside.” Parker says the couple were not engaged in intercourse when he arrived on the scene, but insists he was right to pursue inquiries. The caller had provided a description of the make and licence plate of the car and a full description of Watts and her partner, Brian James Lucas, a celebrity chef. “People don’t make this shit up,” said the sergeant.On a leaked police recording of the incident, Parker can be heard telling a clearly upset Watts: “Somebody’s made a call, which means it gives me the right to be here. It gives me the right to identify you. By law.”The actor replies: “Do you know how many times the cops have been called just because we’re black? Just because we’re black and he’s white? I’m just being really honest, sir.”Parker accuses Watts of playing the race card, and she in turn continues to furiously insist she does not need to provide her ID. Finally the officer is heard requesting a female colleague’s presence.Watts has said she was “showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place” when she was handcuffed and detained. She posted photographs of the encounter on her Facebook page, one highlighting an injury to her wrist she said was caused by handcuffs, another showing herself in tears, standing next to a low wall with her hands restrained behind her back and an officer questioning her. Lucas, who has appeared on television as a gourmet raw-food chef, posted that the officers “saw a tatted RAWKer white boy and a hot bootie shorted black girl and thought we were a HO & a TRICK”.Parker, however, says he recorded his encounter with Watts and Lucas and is confident he did nothing wrong. He says he and the two other police officers who attended would have been relieved of duty by now had it not been for the recording.Watts has since appeared on CNN’s New Day programme with Lucas to explain why she refused to show her ID. The LAPD has confirmed it is conducting an internal investigation into the incident.