Posted on March 5, 2021

Man Calls 911 on Self to ‘Goad’ Cops into George Floyd Incident

Jason Rantz, KTTH, March 4, 2021

Arlington Police were called to a bus stop near a middle school after a report of a young Black man brandishing a handgun. That man, Tamon Leverette, later said “he was stopped and frisked” by police “for no reason” other than “‘being Black.’”

Tamon Leverette

Tamon Leverette

But police in Arlington, Washington, say their investigation showed it was actually Leverette who reported himself to 911. And it’s not the first time this has happened.

While the motive is unclear, it appears the intent was to “goad” police into falsely accusing a Black teen of having a gun. The Arlington Police Chief even says Leverette’s Community Corrections officer explained, “the subject has mentioned that he (Leverette) could see himself in a similar situation as ‘George Floyd.’”

{snip}

Police say Leverette called 911 on Feb. 22 to report a Black teen in a tan hoodie. He was supposedly holding a handgun with a red bandana tied around it. {snip}

The caller identified himself as “Stacy Williams” and told a 911 operator that the teen was “too young to even have a pistol. He only looks 16, 17 years old.”

“Well, I’m at the bus stop, and there’s a colored young man, and I can see a pistol right there,” he said on the 911 call, noting he was with his young sister at the time.

{snip}

The incident report notes, “it sounded like a male speaking in a higher pitch to simulate that of a female’s voice.”

{snip}

When officers arrived, they spotted the suspect (Leverette), thanks to the 911 caller’s detailed description. They briefly searched him, but did not find any weapons.

“Tamon pulled up his left pant leg, showing me a Department of Corrections (DOC) GPS tracking ankle band,” the officer writes in an incident report. “He informed me that he was not doing anything wrong, just waiting for the bus to come so he could go to his DOC check in with his assigned DOC Officer.”

The latter point proved to be true, as he was on his way to see the officer supervising him. Leverette is currently under DOC supervision. The report says he has an affiliation with the “Bloods,” a dangerous gang.

The officer said he “wanted to understand why someone would call in with concerns that he was handling a firearm at the bus stop as described.” Leverette said he was unsure, did not have a weapon, and thanked the officers for their professionalism.

But the next day, Leverette told the DOC officer he was a victim of racial profiling.

According to the DOC officer, per the incident report, Leverette told him “he was stopped and frisked by ‘Everett Police’ for no reason the previous day because of ‘being Black.’”

{snip}

The officer called the reporting witness “Stacy Williams” to follow up, but received a voice mail message. It ended up outing Leverette as Williams.

{snip}

Leverette was arrested with two counts of false reporting, but a charging decision has not yet been made.

{snip}

The incident report accused Leverette of a similar incident in December 2020. {snip}

{snip}

The newest incident report says a separate officer “contacted the male, determined that the male was not armed and had not made any threats. That male was identified … as Tamon.”

{snip}