Alabama Band Director Shocked with Taser and Arrested After Refusing to Stop Students from Playing Music

A high school band director in Alabama was shocked with a taser and arrested last Thursday after he refused to direct his students to stop playing music following a football game.

Johnny Mims, the band director at Minor High School in Adamsville, a Birmingham suburb, had led the band’s performance on the bleachers at P.D. Jackson-Olin High School, where both football teams had recently finished a game. Both the Minor and Jackson-Olin high school bands continued to play after the game in what is known as the “fifth quarter.”

Juandalynn Givan, an attorney representing Mims, said in a statement that the band director was “unlawfully arrested and subjected to the use of excessive force” by Birmingham police officers. The police department released body camera footage of the incident on Tuesday, which showed that things quickly escalated and the band director was hit with a stun gun several times by one officer and then placed in handcuffs.

Mims’ legal team is pledging to take action against the Birmingham Police Department. Givan said in a statement that “Minor High School’s band director conducts himself in a professional manner and is respected by his students, faculty, and staff.”

The incident has sparked outrage among the local community, with many questioning why the police officers felt the need to use such excessive force. The Birmingham Police Department has yet to comment on the incident.