An ex-Pennsylvania state police trooper — who is white — is suing his former agency for firing him after his viral arrest of a black Philadelphia LGBTQ leader.
Andrew Zaborowski arrested Celena McLean — then Celena Morrison — and McLean’s husband in a March 2024 traffic stop on the Schuylkill Expressway, WPVI-TV reported.
‘It’s cause I’m black.’
Zaborowski claims in his lawsuit that state police fired him because of his skin color and that he was falsely accused of racial profiling, the station said.
At the time of the traffic stop and arrest, McLean was Philadelphia’s executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, WPVI reported.
The station said it reached out to state police for comment but did not hear back.
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As Blaze News previously reported, the March 2 incident — some of which was caught on video — took place on Interstate 76 near the downtown part of the city.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing state police, at the time reported that the trooper pulled over Celena Morrison for driving with an expired and suspended registration, driving without headlights activated in the rain, illegally tinted windows, and driving too close to another car.
After the traffic stop, Celena Morrison’s husband, Darius McLean, pulled up behind them, the paper said, adding that state police said McLean “became verbally combative” and “refused multiple lawful orders” after the trooper approached him.
The trooper attempted to arrest McLean, and Morrison tried to intervene, the Inquirer said, adding that Morrison also was arrested.
In Morrison’s video of the arrest, Morrison was heard yelling, “I work for the mayor! I work for the mayor!” as McLean was laying on the shoulder of the freeway, the paper said.
“Please, just stop. No! It’s cause I’m black,” McLean was heard saying, according to WPVI-TV.
“It’s not ’cause you’re black,” the trooper replied, according to the station.
The trooper then told Morrison to “turn around” and “give me your hands, or you are getting tased,” WPVI reported. At one point, Morrison was heard saying, “He just punched me,” the Inquirer said.
More from the station:
“This was a simple traffic stop cause you didn’t have your lights on. You’re tailgating,” the officer explains to the couple. “Then, I don’t know who you are. I don’t need somebody rolling up on me.”
“There was no need at all,” one person is heard saying.
“You were about to tase me. You pulled your gun on me,” another voice says.
“You were fighting with me,” says a third voice.
“No, I wasn’t fighting you,” someone responds.
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State police placed the trooper on restricted duty after the incident, the Inquirer reported.
In addition, while state police charged the couple with resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct, and summary traffic citations, the paper said the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner declined the charges, and Celena Morrison and Darius McLean were released from custody on the evening of March 2.
Blaze News reported in January 2020 that then-Mayor Jim Kenney appointed Celena Morrison to run his Office of LGBT Affairs — and that Morrison was the first-ever trans-identifying individual of color to head up the agency.
“While Philadelphia is known as a progressive, LGBTQ-friendly city, we still have work to do,” the far-left Kenney said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Celena to build a more inclusive city for our residents.”
Morrison added to KYW-AM that being transgender and black will be an asset when it comes to the job’s demands of dealing with issues of race and gender.
“Trans folks are not being accepted,” Morrison told KYW. “They are not accepted within the LGBT community. They are also not accepted within the black community. That double marginalization calls for a different type of support.”
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