Shamarr Allen arrested after ‘incident’ with deputy sheriff
22nd September 2014 · 0 Comments
New Orleans trumpeter and bandleader Shamarr Allen was arrested last week by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office after a heated exchange with an Orleans Parish deputy sheriff. The popular musician is accused of pinching a deputy sheriff.
The incident occurred Thursday in Louis Armstrong Park during a “Jazz in the Park” concert. An OPSO news release said Allen punched Deputy Thomas Elder several times in the head after the peace officer did not allow Allen to move his disabled mother and sister past a security post without the proper backstage passes.
Allen, who was scheduled to perform, was booked with battery against a police officer.
Deputy Elder was reportedly taken to the hospital by EMS workers to be examined and the incident is being investigated.
Louisiana Weekly music columnist Geraldine Wyckoff did not see the entire incident but saw enough to know that what actually happened has not been accurately reported by local news stations and had this to say about Shamarr Allen’s arrest:
“In Shamarr’s case, when he requested his mother and sister be allowed ‘backstage,’ it should have been, ‘Oh, welcome. Can I get you chairs? Is there anything else you need?’ Instead, he got disrespect and a refusal. What WDSU labeled a ‘beating’ seemed to be when Shamarr was trying to get out of the barricaded area and the same sheriff wouldn’t let him pass—wouldn’t let him get out.”
Although what exactly happened is still not entirely known, Wyckoff said that the misunderstanding might have stemmed from rule changes about backstage passes. She did say at one point she saw two deputies standing between Allen and his mother and sister and later saw Allen’s mother on the ground but did not know how she ended up on the ground.
On Friday, Wyckoff said that it appeared as through Allen was prevented from leaving the backstage area, something that might have helped to resolve the dispute before it escalated.
“That could have diffused the situation if he had been allowed to leave,” she said. “I don’t know why they did that — unless they were already planning to arrest him or something.”
Another witness who spoke on the condition of anonymity said he could not hear what was being said but got the impression that the deputy sheriff had an axe to grind.
“He was clearly the aggressor,” the witness told The Louisiana Weekly. “With is body language, it just seemed like he was looking for a fight.
“Who in their right mind would get into a fight with a cop with his disabled mother and sister nearby?” he continued. “That just doesn’t make sense.”
Earlier this summer, Allen was involved in an incident with state troopers in the Lower Ninth Ward during which the trumpeter says he was racially profiled, shoved to the ground and threatened with a gun by state police, The incident occurred as Allen was headed home after a late-night gig.
After an investigation State Police Col. Mike Edmonson concluded that the state troopers involved did nothing wrong.
The state troopers were asked by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to provide residents and tourists with additional security as the NOPD grapples with a manpower shortage.
This article originally published in the September 22, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
