THIS WHITE COP MIGHT BE ACCUSED OF BEING RACIST, BUT HIS BODY CAM PROVES OTHERWISE
Though the accusations of black men being unfairly treated by white men certainly have some merit, that isn’t to say any time a white cop interacts with a black male, the cop is acting with prejudice.
Yet, if you were to listen to the stories that have been coming out ever since Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer, you would think all cops are targeting black men. Obviously, this is not the case. Sometimes cops are just doing their jobs — and doing them responsibly.
A recent example comes out of San Francisco.
Veteran Oakland firefighter Keith Jones and his two sons were walking back to their car after a Raiders game when they happened to go past Jones’s station, Station 29.
When they noticed the door was open, they went inside to look around. Jones assumed the door had been left open when the other firefighters had made a quick exit to go out on a call.
As he was leaving the station, Jones was confronted by a white police officer who was responding to a burglary in process.
The officer yelled at Jones and his children to put their hands up.
As Jones recollects: “…his hand was on his gun. He was crouched, he was low, and he was basically in a shooting stance.”
Jones obviously did what the officer demanded, but noticed his young son was crying.
Though Jones informed the officer he was an Oakland Firefighter, he said he was confident that he was going to end up “another dead black man,” much like Michael Brown.
“I’m pretty much thinking he’s going to pretty much shoot me,” Jones said. Apparently his kids thought the same thing. “I was thinking is he going to shoot my dad the whole time,” said 12-year-old Keith Jones II. “I was getting ready about to cry. My hands started to get tired, but I kept them up,” said 9-year-old Trevon Jones.
Eventually, the officer let Jones retrieve an ID to prove he worked there, and after that he was free to go.
But that didn’t mean Jones was just going to let the incident slide. According to Jones, “I think they view black males as a threat.” Jones also filed a complaint against the Oakland Police Department .
The only problem with Jones’s accusations is that they seem to be exaggerated, and there’s proof to back the officer up.
The white officer happened to be wearing a body camera to document the event. Check it out for yourself. Note the initial exchange takes very little time and the cop apologizes at the end ofthe video .
What do you think? Was this a case of racial profiling or a cop just doing his job? Leave a comment below.
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