Armed black driver praises 2 white officers who disarmed him during traffic stop

Arizona man, Steven Hildreth, Jr. took to Facebook to narrate how he was disarmed during a traffic stop by two white police officers and praised them for how they behaved. The incident happened on October 27th, and he said he was “wearing a hoodie and strapped.” when he was stopped for driving with a broken headlight.

After approaching his car, one of the officers asked him if he was armed, he replied that he was armed with a Glock handgun and that the gun was holstered on his right hip and his conceal carry license was in his wallet in his right back pocket. The officers proceeded to disarm him. Steven works with the National Guard. See the rest of what he wrote after the cut...

The officer explains for his safety and mine, he needs to disarm me for the stop. I understand, and I unlock the vehicle. I explain that I'm running a 7TS ALS holster but from the angle, the second officer can't unholster it. Lead officer asks me to step out, and I do so slowly. Officer relieves me of my Glock and compliments the X300U I'm running on it. He also sees my military ID and I tell him I'm with the National Guard.

Lead officer points out my registration card is out of date but he knows my registration is up to date. He goes back to run my license. I know he's got me on at least two infractions. I'm thinking of how to pay them.

Officers return with my Glock in an evidence back, locked and cleared. "Because you were cool with us and didn't give us grief, I'm just going to leave it at a verbal warning. Get that headlight fixed as soon as possible."

I smile. "Thank you, sir."

I'm a black man wearing a hoodie and strapped. According to certain social movements, I shouldn't be alive right now because the police are allegedly out to kill minorities.

Maybe...just maybe...that notion is bunk.

Maybe if you treat police officers with respect, they will do the same to you.

Police officers are people, too. By far and large, most are good people and they're not out to get you.

I'd like to thank those two officers and TPD in general for another professional contact.

We talk so much about the bad apples who shouldn't be wearing a badge. I'd like to spread the word about an example of men who earned their badges and exemplify what that badge stands for.

#BlueLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter

[EDIT: In my rush to post, I accidentally omitted that my wallet was in the back-right pocket, near my firearm. This was the primary motivation for temporary disarmament. The post has been modified to reflect that.

Again, I'd like to thank the TPD and their officers for their consistent professionalism, courtesy, and the good work that they do, both in this particular contact and every day.]

Blacks in the US aren't impressed with his write-up and praise for the officers...they say he was treated this way because he was with the National Guard....and not a thug with a lengthy criminal record or just a black man with no real job.