Pa. state trooper who arrested a Philly LGBTQ official has been fired, union says

The Pennsylvania state trooper who arrested two leaders in Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community — including a city official — earlier this spring has been fired, according to the state troopers’ union.

Stephen Polishan, president of the Pennsylvania State Trooper Association, said in a statement Friday that the trooper, whom he declined to identify, had been on the job for just six months before the controversial incident on I-76 and “deserved better from our department.”

“The department’s leadership should have fought against the attacks made about this young man’s character. Instead, they abandoned him,” Polishan said.

Lt. Adam Reed, a state police spokesperson, said only that the trooper — whom he also declined to identify — “is no longer employed by our agency.” Reed said he could not comment further “as we don’t comment on personnel matters.”

The now-former trooper arrested Celena Morrison-McLean, the city’s executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, and her husband, Darius McLean, an official at the William Way Community Center, on the morning of March 2 after a traffic stop and heated confrontation on the Vine Street Expressway. A video of their arrests, captured by Morrison-McLean, circulated on social media shortly afterward and appeared to show McLean lying on the shoulder of the highway, begging the trooper to let him go.

“I work for the mayor! I work for the mayor!” Morrison-McLean yelled before the trooper could be heard telling her to “shut the f— up.”

The trooper then turned to arrest Morrison-McLean and, as the video panned upward, she could be heard saying, “He just punched me.”

State police initially said the trooper had pulled Morrison-McLean over for multiple vehicle code violations, including driving with an expired and suspended registration, headlights that were not illuminated in the rain, illegally tinted windows, and driving too close to another car. Following the confrontation on the highway, police recommended that the couple be charged with several misdemeanor and summary offenses each, including resisting arrest and obstruction of justice, but the district attorney’s office declined to charge them. They were released several hours after being arrested.

Morrison-McLean, 51, has been the city’s executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs since 2020. City officials believe she was likely the first openly transgender person to lead any city office or department. McLean, 35, is the chief operating officer of the Philadelphia-based William Way Community Center and director of the Arcila-Adams Trans Resource Center. Attempts to reach them for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

The couple spoke out several days after the incident, saying they feared for their safety during the episode, which began when Morrison-McLean was driving a car to a mechanic, while McLean was following behind her in a rental car. While driving on I-76 near 30th Street station, the trooper turned on his lights and pulled Morrison-McLean over, leading McLean to pull his rental over behind the trooper, the couple said.

The trooper then charged toward’s McLean’s car, they said, shouting expletives with his gun drawn. The trooper ordered McLean out of the car, they said, at which point Morrison-McLean began recording the incident on her phone.

Polishan, the union president, said McLean’s decision to pull up behind the trooper’s car disrupted what should have been an otherwise-routine traffic stop. Polishan also said McLean’s car had illegally blacked-out windows, and, without naming him, said McLean “ignored orders to leave the scene.”

“Following his training, the trooper arrested both individuals when they refused to cooperate and follow his orders,” Polishan said.

The couple said they planned to file a lawsuit against the trooper, although they haven’t yet done so. One of their attorneys, Kevin Mincey, declined to comment Friday, except to say that they were still preparing a suit and still planned to file it.

The trooper had been placed on restricted duty pending an internal investigation into the incident. Reed, the state police spokesperson, said that investigation remains ongoing.