(AllHipHop News) On the night of New Year’s Eve, Yellow Springs police officers were involved in several incidents that have some of the town’s residents questioning the force’s tactics.
Among the citizens of the Ohio locale with concerns is a comedy legend.
Dave Chappelle recently attended a Village of Yellow Springs town council meeting, and he spoke about the law enforcement in his hometown.
“Police have actually been sensitive to my situation. I know on at least two occasions where they protected my personal well being unsolicited from me,” said Chappelle. “I appreciate that. Huge gaffe New Year’s Eve.”
According to reports, a black man was thrown to the ground by officers not long after the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2017.
Authorities claim David Carlson was intoxicated, violent, disruptive, and stole one of the officers’ taser.
His lawyer denies the cops’ account of the incident.
Other attendees, most of them white, said it was the police that escalated the situation.
A number of residents actually attempted to shield Carlson as a cop attempted to tase him.
Councilwoman Marianne MacQueen was later charged with two misdemeanors for allegedly interfering with an arrest and obstructing official business.
After widespread backlash from community members, Police Chief Dave Hale resigned, just two years after taking the position.
“Now we’re being policed by what feels like an alien force,” Chappelle told the council.
The creator of the classic Chappelle’s Show television series was at the Yellow Springs NYE event.
He added, “In this Trump era, this is an opportunity to show everybody that local politics reigns supreme. We can make our corner of the world outstanding.”
Chappelle and his family currently live in Yellow Springs, the location where his father was once a professor at Antioch College.