First Ever US President To Be Arrested Was Booked By A Black Police Officer
WRITTEN BY SUMI DEKA
Ulysses S. Grant had a confrontation with the law in the past. This happened before former President Donald Trump was indicted.
Grant used to break the law with his speed. He was stopped by the cops in Washington for speeding several times.
According to Cathy Lanier, chief of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, Grant was arrested after being caught racing his buggy on M Street.
In an interview with WTOP in 2012, the cops allowed him to pay a fine and walk back to the White House.
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reported that the officer who stopped Grant in 1972 was William H. West, a former enslaved person, and Civil War veteran.
William H. West was one of the two Black police officers to work for the Washington police department at the time.
The officer caught Grant twice for speeding. He gave a warning to Grant at first but Grant repeated the same thing the next day.
William H. West continued to work as a police officer. He retired in 1901 and Grant’s arrest appeared in the Washington Evening Star on September 27, 1908.