Getty Images/Paul ZimmermanWyclef Jean is speaking out about the incident early Tuesday morning in which he was handcuffed by L.A. sheriff’s deputies who mistook him for a robbery suspect. Clef is upset about the incident, but not because he has a problem with the police.
“As a person who has law enforcement in their family — I mean I ran for president of a country — I understand law and order,” he tells ABC Radio.
Part of the incident was captured on video, but he says the really scary part was not.
“When I got out the car, the part that y’all did not see…is the quick roll-up on me, and the guns drawn,” he tells ABC Radio. “Your mind is going 360 miles an hour..I’m being pulled over. Now I’m being handcuffed. My bandana is being pulled off my head. I still don’t know why.”
Clef says he identified himself and urged the deputies to Google him, but that didn’t happen quickly enough for him. He’s upset at the lack of communication, and how his behavior was described in a statement by the sheriff’s department.
“They said I went to the back of the trunk. And this is not true,” he tells ABC Radio. He also says they characterized him as being hostile.
“I’m not here to incite a race war here,” he explains. “I’m here to address an issue where I feel like it’s abuse of power, and information is tampered with from the side of the citizen. And for me, this is not right.”
What’s also upsetting is that he always instructed his daughter how to behave if she’s ever pulled over by the cops, and now she sees that doesn’t work in real life.
“She…goes, “Dad, you did all of this like you told me what to do. They still put you in cuffs in the back of a car.’ Now what?”
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