Officer who tased band leader worried incident would fuel mistrust in police, body cam shows
Video shows a conversation between Johnny Mims and an officer who shocked him.
New body camera video obtained by ABC News shows a conversation between Johnny Mims, a band director at Minor High School in Alabama, and a Birmingham Police Department (BPD) officer who shocked him with a stun gun during an incident on Sept. 14 after Mims refused to comply with officer's orders to stop the music so they could clear the field.
BPD released a nearly 8-minute clip of the incident last week that shows Mims refusing to comply and then being shocked three times by police, but Mims’ attorney, Juandalynn Givan, shared additional body camera footage of the incident with ABC News that shows the moments after Mims was arrested, including a conversation he had with the officer who shocked him during the incident.
Mims accuses the officer of escalating the situation in the video.
"You shouldn’t have escalated it," Mims told the officer.
"You allowed it to. You wouldn’t comply," the officer said.
"I did not let this escalate," Mims replied, adding that he told police the band was playing their last song of the night and was going to leave as soon as they finished.
The officer, who is Black, said he is concerned this incident will fuel the children's mistrust of police, and told Mims they need to "fix this" and find a way to "bridge the gap" between police and the children.
"We gotta fix this. You know, I don’t like this. We gotta fix this. We gotta come up with something," the officer said as he walked Mims to the police car. "Right now, I care about them babies on that bus that just got left. I care about them babies that aren’t going to be able to trust the police just because of these situations."
"I know, but If you put me in the car … it’s just making it worse," Mims said.
Mims expressed concern over how this incident impacted the students in an interview with "Good Morning America" that aired on Wednesday. "To hear those kids cry … [that] is the most heartbreaking thing that anybody can ever experience," Mims said.
"My biggest prayer is that first of all, that these students will not hold a grudge that they will be able to overcome this – that they would one day be able to move forward and continue to be the great people that they are," he added.
The incident took place on Sept. 14 at P.D. Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham during "fifth quarter" – a tradition that originates at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) where school bands face off, taking turns to play music after a football game comes to an end.
Video shows police approaching Mims during what he said was the band’s last song and asked him to ask the band to stop the music so they can clear the field.
Body camera footage released by BPD shows officers attempting to clear the stadium following the game and as they approach Mims and ask him to tell the band to stop the music, he repeatedly says, "Get out of my face." He later told police that the band was "fixing to leave" after they finished their last song.
Police allege Mims, who was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest, refused to place his hands behind his back and pushed an officer during the altercation.
Video obtained by ABC News shows the officer accusing Mims of "swinging" on him as police led him out in handcuffs and escorted him to receive medical attention.
"You swung on me, man," the officer said.
"I didn’t, I said let me go," Mims said.
In the body camera videos of the incident reviewed by ABC News, some moments of the interaction between Mims and police are not clearly visible, as Mims is not always in view and it’s dark in the stadium after the lights are turned off.
In the moments before Mims was shocked with a stun gun, an officer can be heard saying, "He hit the officer, he gotta go to jail."
"I did not swing on the officer," Mims said moments before he was shocked.
Mims accused police of "excessive" force and told "GMA" he feared for his life.
"I was on the ground. So, to go and tase me twice or three times … that's excessive," he said. "I'm a band director. I'm the bus driver. So, I wasn't, I wasn't running … I can't go nowhere. I got students that I'm accountable for."
Mims, who was placed on administrative leave by the Jefferson County School District following the incident, was booked at the Birmingham City Jail and was released on bond hours later, online jail records show.
Givan told "GMA" her office plans to take legal action against the city of Birmingham and called for officers involved to be placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.
"I want these charges dropped against my client. His reputation has been impacted. They have impugned his character," Givan said. "We want justice for our client, and we want his voice to be heard. We want him respected and we want an apology from the city of Birmingham."
The officers involved have not been named by the BPD.
Asked if any of the officers have been disciplined, a spokesperson for the Birmingham Police Department's Internal Affairs Division told ABC News on Wednesday that an investigation is ongoing.
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