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A Cleveland man is suing the city and a Cleveland police officer for injuries after he was tossed out of a McDonald’s by the cop who apparently was not pleased with his discussion about LeBron James and the lack of white basketball players in the NBA.

Charles Smith, the man bringing the suit, is Native American with “light complexion,” according to the complaint. The police officer, Carl Perkins, is black. Perkins allegedly assumed Smith was white and “took offense to comments plaintiff made about paucity of white basketball players in the NBA” (“paucity” means “a small amount of something : an amount that is less than what is needed or wanted” per Merriam-Webster).

Here are the relevant portions from the complaint (in full, below):

7. Plaintiff Charles Timothy Smith states that on or about November 3, 2012 he was in conversation with other persons at the McDonald’s restaurant near E. 55th St. and Broadway in Cleveland, Ohio. The conversations were about the contributions of Lebron James and the game of basketball.

8. Plaintiff states that on that date and place the defendant Perkins was also in the restaurant and took offense to comments plaintiff made about the paucity of white basketball players in the NBA and, mistaking plaintiff’s light complexion as being “white”, loudly proclaimed to everyone in hearing distance that he, the defendant, was tired of plaintiff’s comments about blacks and commanded plaintiff to leave.

9. Defendant Perkins then forcibly grabbed plaintiff, pushed plaintiff towards the door and physically expelled plaintiff out of the restaurant, injuring plaintiff physically and mentally in the process.

10. Plaintiff, in a dazed and injured state, stumbled towards his home on E. 55th Street and called for an ambulance where he was immediately taken to the Cleveland Clinic for treatment.

11. As a result of the above described conduct, plaintiff has been physically injured, humiliated, embarrassed, inconvenienced and suffered great emotional distress.

The suit was first filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in November, but was recently moved to the federal court in Cleveland.

Read the complaint here:

Smith vs City of Cleveland (PDF)
Smith vs City of Cleveland (Text)

This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2013.

Doug Brown is a staff writer at Scene with a passion for public records laws and investigative reporting. A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he has an M.A. in journalism from the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a B.A. in political science from Hiram College. Prior to joining Scene, Doug was a contributing writer for Deadspin.com, reporting behind-the-scenes stories about college sports through public records and developing sources. Doug's work as an enterprise reporter for the Daily Kent Stater was recognized by the Cleveland Press Club (2013 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards), Society of Professional Journalists (regional and national Mark of Excellence Awards), and the Associated Collegiate Press. He spent the summer of 2012 working for the Metro desk of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and spent previous summers working for Outside Bozeman Magazine and Crain's Detroit Business. His website is dougbrown8.com.

7 replies on “Cleveland Police Officer, City Sued For Injuries Following Argument About Lebron James, White NBA Players”

  2. People will sue over anything. Guaranteed he went to the hospital so he could make a lawsuit. Embarassing.

  4. Whatever it takes for Cleveland Police to get their shit together. I hope the guy wins. So someone said something you don’t like, big fucking deal be an adult not a prick cop who thinks they can do whatever they want.

  7. I bet if you look at Officer Perkins history, it will show you a lot about him, sounds ignorant at the least and should not be empowered by being a police officer, let alone forcing his will on other races. This man needs to get fired!

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