Black Photographer Sues Over Traffic Stop

Howard Bingham, a photographer famous for his pictures of Muhammad Ali, is suing the Manhattan Beach Police Department over what he says was a racially motivated traffic stop and wrongful arrest.

Bingham, a 61-year-old African American, says two officers pulled him over in October for no reason as he was returning to his home in South-Central Los Angeles. When Bingham produced an expired driver’s license, the officers handcuffed him and detained him for several hours before releasing him without any charges, according to the suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

“I’d heard about things like this--and my friends all said Manhattan Beach wasn’t a good place for a black man to be driving at night--but I never thought it would happen to me,” Bingham said Thursday.

Manhattan Beach police declined to comment.