African-American man, out for a walk on a cold Michigan day, was stopped by police after a caller reported that he looked suspicious because he had his hands in his pockets.
Brandon B. Waxx McKean posted video on his Facebook page showing his encounter with a police officer who briefly detained him on Thanksgiving day while he was out for a stroll.
In the video the officer can be seen radioing in, asking dispatch to close out a contact file, before explaining to McKean that he was stopped because he was “making people nervous.”
“Well, you were making people nervous,” the officer explained as he took out his own cellphone and began filming the encounter.
“By walking by?” McKean asked.
“Yeah they said you had your hands in your pockets,” the officer replied.
“Wow,” McKean said. “Walking by, having your hands in your pockets makes people nervous and call the police when it’s snowing outside?” to which the officer admits, “It is.”
Asked by the officer, “What are you up to today?” McKean replied, “Walking, with my hands in my pockets. Walking.”
“Is it an inconvenience talking to me right now?” the officer asked.
“Hell yes. Just because of the whole police situation going on across the country,” an animated McKean replied. “This is outrageous that you would let somebody tell you ‘Oh, there’s somebody walking down the street with their hands in their pockets.’ There’s ten thousand people in Pontiac right now with their hands in their pockets, so how many —”
The police officer agreed saying, “That’s right, but we do have a lot of robberies, so I’m just checking on you. You’re fine, you’re good.”
McKean pointed out that both he and the officer were both being “respectable” — at which point the officer high-fives him — before adding, “I’m really mad at the situation, whoever called. That’s crazy.”
The officer replied that he had to check it out, adding that he would do the same thing if McKean had called.
McKean can be heard saying, “For sure, but I never called–” as the video ends.
Watch the video below, uploaded to YouTube by Brandon McKean:
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