Former Tallahassee City Commission candidate Trish Brown was wrongfully handcuffed and detained at the Florida Capitol Wednesday when Capitol Police claim to have mistaken her for someone else.
In an interview with WFSU, Brown said she was at the Capitol for the Refugee Day press conference. While leaving the Capitol cafeteria, she was approached by several officers. The tail end of the encounter was also captured on video.
A Black woman was racially profiled in the Florida Capitol, handcuffed, and later let go when police realized they had the wrong person. Just wildly unprofessional and unhinged behavior by capitol police. pic.twitter.com/Jwa83kY3Xi
— Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) February 28, 2024
“I heard them say, ma'am, you do not. You are not allowed to be in the Capitol. And I turned around and I said, What are you talking about? You have a restraining order. They said, You're restricted from being in the capitol as of last year, and I said, Nah, you got the wrong person. I'm not that person,” Brown said.
After handcuffing her and walking her through the capitol, law enforcement eventually asked to see her ID, proving she was not the person they were looking for. Audible on the video, an officer told Brown that they had mistakenly identified her using a photo.
A spokesperson for capitol police said they could not discuss security measures used at the Capitol when asked what technology was used in Brown’s misidentification.
Last year, dozens of people were arrested and trespassed from the capitol amid several protests over Republican-led policies aimed at aspects of race, culture, history, gender identity and sexual orientation.