Former Georgia Tech and Atlanta Hawks guard Anthony Morrow was pulled over on Aug. 24 in Franklin County, Georgia, according to the Georgia State Patrol (GSP). The GSP said that two troopers pulled Morrow over because he had an illegal window tint on his 2015 Dodge Challenger. Morrow said neither trooper explained why they initially pulled the NBA veteran over.
According to Morrow, during the traffic stop, one of the troopers asked Morrow if he had any drugs, guns, or large amounts of money in his car. Morrow responded to the trooper that he didn’t and explained the odor coming from his car was a legal vapor. The trooper then asked if he could search Morrow’s car and Morrow declined. After taking Morrow’s license and registration back to the patrol car, the second trooper comes up and tells Morrow to step out of his car. Morrow, who last played for the Chicago Bulls in April, said the trooper told him “because I said so” when asked why did he need to step out of the car. After stepping out, Morrow said he was frisked. The second trooper explained to Morrow that law enforcement officers get concerned when individuals say they don’t want their vehicles to be searched.
The second trooper later sat in Morrow’s vehicle to search. He told Morrow that he needed to search the vehicle again with the K-9 and the windows halfway up. During one of the searches, Morrow said one of the troopers was complimenting his Louis Vuitton bags and asked him questions like what kind of ring was he wearing. Morrow’s hood, trunk and all of his doors were opened during the search.
The GSP said Morrow’s vehicle contained no illegal or contraband items. Morrow received a warning for his window tint and was released. After Morrow posted about the stop on Instagram and Twitter this past weekend, GSP announced it was undergoing an investigation on the stop.
“While Mr. Morrow has made no such formal complaint to the Department of Public Safety, we do take those statements very seriously,” GSP said in its official press release. “The results of the investigation will be made public at its conclusion.”
Morrow is a Charlotte native that was driving from North Carolina to Atlanta to pick up one of his daughters for the weekend. Morrow clarified that he isn’t an anti-cop individual because two of his family members are sheriffs, but he definitely believes profiling played a part in his encounter because he saw a Hispanic man being stopped moments before he was. Morrow also said that since he released the original video explaining what happened during the stop, others told him the two same officers put them in similar situations.
