Alabama Pastor Arrested While Watering Neighbor’s Flowers

Being a good neighbor did not pan out well for one Alabama man.

Michael Jennings, a longtime pastor in Sylacauga, Alabama was watering his neighbor's flowers while they were away when he was approached and arrested by police back in May.

Bodycam has just been released from the incident. Jennings is currently planning to file charges against the responding police department for racial discrimination. Jennings is also a former police officer, so this story is at the highest level of personal for him.

Here's the bodycam footage of the incident back in May:

Jennings was watering his neighbor's lawn and flowers when a police officer approached him, asking what he was doing. Jennings said what he was doing, and who he was, along with the sentence "I'm supposed to be here."

Police say they got a call about a suspicious vehicle and a suspicious person and asked Jennings for his ID. After he declines to show his ID, Jennings says he hasn't done anything wrong or suspicious. Jennings was then arrested.

Here's where it gets interesting: A neighbor comes out to speak to the officers. The neighbor, a white woman, says Jennings is her neighbor and lives right next to the yard he was watering. She tells officers he is probably supposed to be there and it's probably her fault this was happening.

The neighbor asks officers to let him go, and officers say they cannot "unarrest" Jennings.

Here's Jennings in his own words on the incident: