Some police are making it seem as if it’s illegal for Black men in America to walk down the street. According to a report by The Pontiac Tribune, a black man was detained by police for keeping his hands in his pockets while walking in freezing temperatures in Michigan.
After leaving his friend’s home in Pontiac on Thanksgiving, Brandon McKean was stopped by a white police officer. McKean began filming the officer and asked him why he was being detained. The officer responded by telling McKean that he was “walking by and making people nervous.” The police officer also told McKean, “You had your hands in your pockets.” The officer claimed that someone called 911 and reported that McKean looked suspicious.
McKean was confused on why the officer would detain him for something so meaningless. He responded by telling the officer, “there are 10,000 people in Pontiac with their hands in their pockets.”
The cop suggested that the town was plagued by robberies, but McKean was fine to leave. The officer, possibly realizing the senselessness of his stop, offered McKean a high five.
It was another awkward interaction between a black man and a white police officer. In the past six months, six unarmed black males have made national headlines after they were killed by white police.
Last week, an unarmed black man in Jacksonville, Florida, was shot at by police while holding his daughter.
