Band Director Tased During Game Says He Was Just Doing His Job When Cops Showed Up [Video]

Students watched in terror as police officers brutally tased their band director during a football game last week. 

The shocking incident took place on Thursday, September 14th when the Minor High School football team was at the home field of Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham. After the game, the school’s band held a battle on the field, known as the “fifth quarter,” until the police showed up and demanded that Minor’s band director, Johnny Mims, shut it down, People reports. However, Mims allowed the band members to continue playing, which resulted in an argument with Birmingham Police Department officials.

According to the department, Mims refused to end the show immediately. In bodycam footage released Monday, the officers seem aggressive towards Mims, who tries to explain that the instrumentalists were conducting their final song. Mims eventually told his band to cut the performance. An officer then got close to the music instructor, who yelled at him to get back. Things turned physical when he tried to handcuff Mims, who refused to comply. BPD officers then tased him three times.

“There was one officer, like directly in front of my face, which I thought was very threatening to me,” Mims told WVTM 13.

The Birmingham City Schools confirmed they do not allow bands to perform a “fifth quarter.” Instead, all players, staff, band members, and attendees are told to exit the stadium immediately after games. They claim the school’s own security staffers tried to rectify the situation before things escalated with the police and will not be conducting any further investigation into the incident.

Mims was eventually booked in Birmingham City Jail for disorderly conduct, harassment, and resisting arrest. He has since been released but says the situation was “horrifying.”

However, the Birmingham Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division is leading its own probe to ensure its employees followed the correct protocol when handling Mims.  

During a Wednesday press conference, alongside his lawyer Juandalynn Givan, Mims says he was “just trying to do my job.”