KINGSLAND, Ga. – The NAACP Camden County Branch is accusing the Camden County Sheriff’s Office and the Kingsland Police Department of racially profiling and unlawfully arresting a young Black man during a traffic stop.
The group held a news conference Saturday afternoon demanding accountability and disciplinary action against the officers involved.
“We are demanding that these officers be removed from their duties as patrol officers immediately,” said Timothy Bessent Sr., president of the NAACP Camden Branch.
Body camera footage captured on July 17 showed a Kingsland Police officer and two Camden County deputies slamming down and handcuffing Scunickenyatta Jenkins on a patrol vehicle.
The NAACP Camden Branch and Jenkins’ attorney gathered at the Camden County Courthouse Saturday to demand action.
“There is no doubt that this was a case of excessive force, and we have to take action because unfortunately, we live in a society where Black men have been abused in the past, they’re being abused in the present, and they’re going to be abused in the future,” said attorney Jackie Patterson.
Jenkins was a passenger inside his girlfriend Marjorie Burns’ vehicle.
Burns, who is a white woman, was pulled over by the Kingsland officer for speeding on I-95 in Camden County.
The officer asked if he could search her car but didn’t give a reason why.
Things quickly escalated when a Camden County deputy came over and asked the couple to step out of the vehicle.
That deputy’s body cam shows Jenkins standing to the side holding a slingshot in one hand and a phone in the other while shouting as another officer searches him.
Moments later, the second Camden County deputy comes over and the officers arrest Jenkins.
The attorney representing Jenkins said he was held in jail for about 48 hours after he was unlawfully arrested and put into the back of a police car.
“My client is not facing any charges, but they booked him in on possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and interesting enough the weapon was a slingshot,” Patterson said.
News4JAX reached out to both the Kingsland Police Department and the Camden County Sheriff’s Office for comment but did not hear anything back.
Jenkins’ attorney is working on a lawsuit. Patterson said the driver, Burns, was given a ticket and let go while Jenkins suffered physical injuries from the arrest.
Bessent said he met with the Kingsland Police chief on Friday and was told the officer involved is no longer with the department.