Philadelphia’s executive director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs, Celena Morrison, and her husband Darius McLean were arrested after a traffic stop along I-76 on Saturday, March 2.
According to the New York Post, Morrison and her husband were hit with charges including resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and more but they were released later that day. Morrison filmed a part of the arrest and it quickly went viral on social media. In the clip that is circulating online Morrison was heard yelling that she worked for the mayor while her husband was getting arrested. Philadelphia Mayor, Cherelle L. Parker reacted to the clip and said that it was “very concerning.”
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According to the report, Morrison was pulled over by a Pennsylvania State trooper and then a green Dodge sedan parked right behind the troopers patrol car. The officer says he wasn’t sure who was behind the wheel when the second car arrived but the man was later identified as Celena Morrison’s husband. As things began to get heated, the officer claims her husband became “verbally combative” towards him when he was approached and refused multiple orders made by the officer.
Morrison, in the clip, accuses the trooper of punching her and pulling a gun, though neither action is shown in the video. McLean tells Morrison that he did not want her getting pulled over.
“This was a simple traffic stop because you didn’t have your lights on,” the trooper tells Morrison. “You didn’t have your lights on, and you were tailgating.”
State police, in a statement, said Morrison and McLean were arrested for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and obstruction of justice.
The District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment Sunday; however, in a statement to other media outlets, a spokesperson said the office “has made no charging decisions pending a thorough, even-handed investigation.”
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Morrison has served as head of the city’s LGBT office since 2020, when she became the first transgender person to lead a municipal department or agency. She previously worked for the William Way LGBT Community Center and the Mazzoni Center and has served as a grand marshal for the city’s Pride parade. McLean is William Way’s current chief operating officer.
“A video circulating on social media that depicts a portion of the incident is very concerning to me, and I will have no further comment until the investigation has been completed,” Mayor Cherelle Parker posted Saturday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
