TJ Holmes Pulled Over for 'Driving While Black'

Journalist TJ Holmes Live-Tweets Traffic Stop: 'Pissed Beyond Words'

BET's TJ Holmes was about a mile from his Atlanta, Georgia home on July 30, 2012 when he saw lights in his rear-view.  As he waited for the officers from the two police cars to get organized and approach his car, TJ Holmes tweeted, "Driving while black ain't no joke!" He attached to the message to an Instagram of the cops in his rear-view.

The situation turned from funny to serious, however. TJ Holmes wasn't the only one confused as to why he was pulled over: the cop also seemed to have no clue why Holmes was being detained. Tweeted Holmes, "This is a damn shame. Officer is literally stumbling over his words trying to explain why he stopped me."

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TJ Holmes

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The cop eventually came up with a reason, though it was somewhat spurious: "Officer's reason for pulling me over: 'wanted to make sure you have insurance on the car.' I kid you not."

In noting his anger with the local fuzz, TJ Holmes tweeted, "Still pissed beyond words right now. But Lord knows I'm not the only this will happen to today. #showmeyourpapers"

TJ Holmes is posting a write-up of the incident on his blog, which is currently under load:

• TJ Holmes Blog

The moral of the story: if you're an African-American driver, it helps to also be a former CNN anchor with fans nationwide.

(via Gawker)