On August 3, 2018 Najari Smith was arrested by an Oakland police officer for what Richmond Mayor Tom Butt would later say "appeared to be a case of "bicycling while black."" The unfortunately-named mayor wrote a three-page letter to Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley and Oakland Mayor Libby Shaaf asking that the charges against Smith be dropped. It worked. While the move was politically understandable, Mayor Butt likely did not see this footage. Because he was clearly wrong about the reason for Smith's arrest. According to Peter Bibring, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, although California law generally requires that officers release people who are cited for misdemeanors, rather than taking them to jail, it makes an exception if the person cannot provide satisfactory identification. If officers are actually trying to write you a misdemeanor citation, you may have to provide identification or face arrest for the misdemeanor offense. Exactly what happened here. Most people don't get confused about their own birthday. ~~~ Follow us on Twitter @realworldpolice ~~~ Real World Police is a proud supporter of Californians Aware — working to educate, advocate, and litigate the public's right to know in California. Want to know more about access to public records in California? Visit www.calaware.org Check out the latest Patreon post about access to public records! It's free, and it's at http://tiny.cc/records5. Earlier installments at http://tiny.cc/records4 http://tiny.cc/records3 http://tiny.cc/records2 and http://tiny.cc/records1. ~~~ Do you have independently verifiable inside information on a story we are or should be covering? Email tips@realworldpolice.com. Your identity will not be revealed without your consent. Because we receive dozens of tips daily we cannot respond individually to every submission. Remember: we don't publish footage that has already been published elsewhere. The tip line is not for requests. Please don’t send links to news articles. ~~~ Want to help make Real World Police happen and get rewarded for it? Become a Sergeant on Patreon today! Sergeants get access to: -A growing library of more than sixty full-length Real World Police videos -The Roadcam series -Supporting documentation: police reports, court records, and other investigatory material -Material from cases not shown on the main channel, like the arrest of Chris Hansen and the detention of T-Pain by the TSA -Early access to some videos -And more! https://patreon.com/realworldpolice Rather not? No sweat. There are more than 500 free videos to enjoy!