Watering flowers while Black: A pastor shares his story of wrongful arrest

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/01/ [login to see] /pastor-arrested-watering-flowers-alabama
When Michael Jennings went over to his out-of-town neighbors' house to water their plants, he thought he was just doing a simple, straightforward act of kindness.

But when Jennings, 56, saw that officers from Alabama's Childersburg Police Department had arrived, he knew that the situation would take a turn.

"When they first pulled up, I already knew that it was gonna be something," Jennings said in an interview with NPR.

A longtime pastor at Vision of Abundant Life Church in Sylacauga, Ala., Jennings recalls that, when the police arrived at his neighbors' house, he immediately noticed the officers' behavior.

"[The officer] parked around back and walked around front. And immediately, you could tell by the tone of his voice I was already guilty," he said.