Band director tased, arrested after he refuses to stop band’s performance after a game

A Birmingham, Alabama-area high school band director was tased and arrested after he wouldn’t tell his band to stop playing after a football game ended, police said.

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Johnny Mims, band director at Minor High School, was arrested after Birmingham police said he refused to stop his band from playing at the end of a game between Minor and Jackson-Olin High School.

“We are aware of the incident that occurred after the Minor and Jackson-Olin football game,” Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin said in a prepared statement. “I am in the process of gathering all the facts and feel it would be inappropriate to comment further until that process is complete. I urge everyone not to jump to conclusions.”

After the football game ended, Birmingham officers were in the process of clearing out the stadium and asked both bands to stop performing so people could hear the request to leave the stadium, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald, a Birmingham Police Department spokesperson.

Officers said Jackson-Olin’s band director stopped his band’s performance, but Mims refused to do so, according to The Associated Press.

After his refusal, police decided to place him in custody, but when they tried a physical altercation broke out between the band director, Birmingham City Schools System security personnel and officers, al.com reported.

Authorities said they attempted to get Mims to place his hands behind his back, but he refused, the AP reported.

The arresting officer alleges Mims pushed him during the arrest, so officers tased him.

Officials with the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service treated Mims at the stadium and then took him to UAB Hospital. According to police, that is standard procedure for a person who has been tased.

According to WBRC-TV, Mims was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest. He was released on bond.

Mims became Minor’s band director in 2018, after serving as director of orchestra and bands at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach and director of bands at New Smyrna Beach High School in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, the school’s website said.