Charged with possessing his own gun, Purple Heart recipient suing NYPD for discrimination
Purple Heart recipient Raffique Khan still can’t believe he was pulled over while driving his BMW in Brooklyn for no apparent reason — then arrested for carrying a legal gun.
Sadly, he says, he can only conclude he was charged because he’s Black.
Khan, 40, retired from the U.S. Army and now working as an armed federal environment protection specialist assigned to Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination, wrongful arrest and a denial of his Second Amendment right to carry a firearm.
“There was no probable cause, to stop [Khan] other than he was a person of color operating an expensive late model vehicle…” said the suit, filed in Brooklyn Federal Court by his lawyer, Cory Morris, on May 21. A similar suit was filed by Morris June 14 in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.
“To be honest, I’m disappointed,” Khan, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, told the Daily News in an interview. “I never thought I would serve and come home to be treated in this manner. I love my country. I wasn’t born here but what better way to pay your country than to serve. i did it honorably.
“I could understand if i was arguing or trying to fight, being belligerent — but it was nothing like that.”
The criminal complaint — filed after Officer Matthew Bessen, who Khan described as white, arrested Khan last Nov. 26 in East New York — clearly indicates that the NYPD’s own database indicates Khan has a license to carry a firearm. The complaint said Khan can only carry the weapon while at work, but Morris said Khan has no such restrictions on his license.
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Khan said he was not told why he was stopped — and there is nothing in the complaint to indicate it, either.
But Kkan, noting his “great respect” for law enforcement, said he immediately told Bessen he was a licensed gun holder and that the weapon was in his glove compartment.
With that, Khan said he and his passengers were ordered out of the car, with Bessen reviewing Khan’s documents — including his carry permit and military identification — and questioning how he got them.
“Maybe he didn’t expect a minority to have credentials like that,” Khan said. “I did not say that to him, but I was saying that to myself. I wanted to still give him the respect he deserves but even though I’m asking him what is going on he didn’t explain anything to me at all.”
After about a half hour, Khan, his cousin and his friend were handcuffed and taken to the 75th Precinct, with Khan eventually charged and the other two let go.