‘Django Unchained’ actress Danièle Watts and her partner appeared on CNN, where the host repeatedly asked her why she didn’t just give police her ID.
As The New Civil Rights Movement reported over the weekend, actress Danièle Watts was detained and handcuffed by police, who thought she was a prostitute and her husband/partner was her john.
The couple were kissing in their car in the Studio City section of North Hollywood. When they left the Mercedes, Watts was on the phone with her father and police approached, demanding her ID.
Appearing on CNN this morning, Watts and her partner, Brian James Lucas, had a lot to say — but so did news anchor Michaela Pereira, who repeatedly asked Watts why she did not show ID.
“Legal experts say the officer did have the right to request identification if he suspected illegal behavior,” CNN states, but does not state if Watts was legally required to show ID. The police can ask, but that does not mean a citizen is required to comply. (We are not legal exports nor is this legal advice.)
“I believe in America and what it stands for,” Watts told Pereira, “and I believe in freedom, and I think a country that calls itself ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave,’ if I am within my amendment rights, my constitutional rights to say, ‘no, unless you’re charging me with a crime I will not be giving you my ID,’ that is a right that I stand up for because of the shoulders I stand on.”
In the CNN interview, Watts notes that the police asked Lucas for Watts’ ID, instead of asking her directly.Â
“All people have been fighting for this freedom — it’s beyond race at this point.”
Watts stands by her decision to not hand over her ID. She says it’s the role of artists and actors “to raise awareness to talk about things so we can all decide what kind of society we want to live in.”
Watch:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/09/15/newday-intv-watts-django-actress-mistaken-for-prostitute.cnn.html
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Image: Screenshot