Virginia police accused a black man of dealing drugs and forced him to get out of the car. In reality, the man was just giving a lift to someone he knew. The black driver was stopped at Norfolk while he was dropping someone he knew home. The incident was captured on a phone, showing the man trying to keep his cool amidst accusations. He was coming from the restaurant named Ziggy after getting his order.
He knew people at the restaurant, and they asked him to give them a ride home. They met him near the 7-Eleven store. At first, he denied, but when they offered him money, he agreed. Meanwhile, he was approached by the Virginia police as they were watching from a nearby vehicle. They accused him of dealing drugs and interrogated him.
Moreover, they demanded that he step out of the vehicle and search his car. When they stopped the Black driver, they asked him how he knew them. The driver responds with, “You’re wasting your time, we are not doing anything here.” Even the passenger chimed in that they work at the same restaurant he was picking up his food from.
You can watch the whole exchange between the cops and the man in the video. The police accused him of having something in his left pocket. To which he said they may check it, while he refused to step out of the vehicle. Here’s the official video:
The cop went ahead and opened the car door. They even threatened him with sending him to jail for obstruction in investigation. The cops announced they had reasonable suspicion on him for exchanging drugs for money. They blatantly accused him of dealing drugs. After this, the driver complied and got out of the car as he did not have any other choice, as per Atlanta Black Star.
The cops moved him close to their vehicle so he could not be filmed in the video that he was already recording. The other cop searched the car while the man was checked for drugs. Instead of drugs, the man had put $10 in his pocket that fellow passengers had paid him for the ride.
The police realized there were no drugs and they were telling the truth. They let them go. According to the rules, the cops can stop a vehicle and inspect it if they suspect anything, so there is no violation of the Fourth Amendment right. However, many people who have watched the video considered this harassment and racism.
Earlier, a Florida man shared his experience of getting harassed by the cops in Jacksonville. He was stopped for having his headlights off, and when he refused to get out of the vehicle upon not understanding the reason, the cop broke the car window.
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He went on to hit him on the face and drag him out. He was then slammed on the floor, suffering injuries to his face. He shared the traumatic experience on Instagram, while not wholly recovering from the incident. His asking for a supervisor did not work in his favor.
Unnecessary violence against black men by cops has been seen several times now. The police departments are doing an internal investigation to understand the circumstances. Many people were in his favor saying the violence from the cop was totally uncalled for.
