Celena Morrison, a trans-identifying biological male, was headed westbound on I-76 and was allegedly driving without lights on as well as tailgating. He was pulled over by a Pennsylvania State Trooper and that's when all hell broke loose. 

Morrison's husband, Darius McLean who had been following, pulled up behind the State Trooper's vehicle and became irate. McLean was "verbally combative" and was "resisting arrest" though it's still not clear what event happened to cause the trooper to start trying to put McLean in cuffs. 

During that moment, Morrison was recording on his phone and he can be heard screaming that he "worked for the mayor" as McLean claimed that he was only being arrested because he was black. 

Morrison is then told to turn around by the trooper, saying that he will be tased if he fails to comply. Morrison claims he was punched by the trooper. 

2/2 Celena Morrison recorded video of part of the incident. She can be heard telling the trooper “i work for the mayor. I work for the mayor.” Before she gets arrested and the phone keeps recording audio after. pic.twitter.com/Y1cOCHWCJo

— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) March 2, 2024

Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker weighed in, calling the incident "very concerning" and refused to speak more about it until the investigation has been completed. 

"Earlier today, a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper executed a car stop on the Vine Street Expressway in Philadelphia, reportedly for a Motor Vehicle Code violation. Celena Morrison, the City’s executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, was in the vehicle that was stopped," posted Parker. 

"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," she wrote in a follow-up post.

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 L. Parker (@PhillyMayor) March 2, 2024

It's unclear what part of the video she found concerning, whether it was the traffic stop itself or the fact Morrison and his husband were clearly giving State Troopers a hard time while attempting to utilize the fact that Morrison worked for the Mayor to get out of trouble. 

Clearly, Morrison thinks he is above the law and that breaking it is fine since he answers directly to the person in power in that city. 

What is concerning is that McLean and Morrison have both been released from custody without any charges being filed, though an investigation is still ongoing. 

If it turns out that all of the trooper's actions were legitimate and it was all done according to the book and McLean and Morrison still get away with it, then perhaps they're right and they are above the law. Moreover, this would go on to be used as a way to justify anti-police sentiment in blue cities, further driving a divide between the people and law and order and inviting chaos to reign. 

But my hunch is that the troopers did do everything correctly just judging by the way Morrison attempted to use his employment under the mayor as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, as well as claims of being punched. It also wasn't a good look that we could see McLean resisting arrest while claiming that the only reason this was happening was that he was black. 

We'll hopefully see soon, but in a just world, Morrison would be fired immediately and made an example of. Not only would this protect the integrity of the mayor's office, but it would be a clear sign to everyone else that no one is above the law, even those who work for people in positions of power. 

I wouldn't trust to hope, though. Morrison is not only a black man, but a trans-identifying person who leads up a DEI-focused office. The mayor firing him would incite waves of backlash from the left with accusations of all kinds coming down on Parker.