A viral video that’s raising alarms online shows a group of police officers in Flint, Michigan, indiscriminately macing a group of Black people who were just gathered by a food truck waiting for their orders.
According to the Detroit Metro Times, the incident happened at 2 a.m. on Aug. 3 at the Family Recipes x All the Smoke food truck stop.
Witnesses stated that the cops pulled up and demanded that the food truck staff members close down shop for the night because it was getting late.
When the owner, Leon Lawson II, asked the cops if he could finish the remaining orders before shutting down, the officers allowed him to complete the dishes in progress.
They left, but returned a short time later, blasting sirens from their patrol cars.
“It agitated them that we were still fulfilling orders, but we weren’t taking new orders,” Lawson told Metro Times. “They weren’t getting the effect they were expecting.”
A 10-minute video of the scene showed the moments the cop cars pulled up, sounding loud sirens and pointing flashlights at the crowd.
Lawson’s son, Leon Lawson III, was seen preparing food on the grill and dancing to the sound of the sirens as soon as police came back.
Two cops exited the car, rushed toward Lawson, then grabbed and handcuffed him, even though he wasn’t displaying combative behavior and didn’t appear to be committing an offense. One of the cops also shoved another person who was standing near Lawson.
Lawson didn’t resist, but his detainment drew shouts of protest from the crowd witnessing the arrest.
“We just trying to get our food!” crowd members shout.
“What do I do about my food?” one woman asked.
“Go home,” the cop responded. “Go to McDonald’s.”
After placing Lawson in the back of a cop car, one cop returns, shouts at the onlookers, and sprays a substance directly at them, eliciting coughs from several people. The substance also landed on the grill, where the food was still cooking.
People are seen immediately dispersing from the area.
“These weren’t gangsters waiting on their food,” Lawson II says. “These are regular citizens. They could have de-escalated and told people to go home. It was sad. It was a black eye to our city.”
Footage of the incident has garnered over 80,000 views on Facebook as of Aug. 5.
Viewers flooded the comments, condemning the police for their behavior and accusing them of using excessive force.
“That was totally uncalled for from the beginning how can you bridge the gap with your community,” one person wrote.
“This is crazy. At least they could have communicated before taking action. A simple finish up and shut down would have solved the problem but they get pleasure from roughing people up,” someone else commented.
“I hope all these cops get what they got coming. Harassing hard working Americans while there’s criminals shooting, drug dealers selling and people dying. Whack how much of a police state flint has become over s*** they control,” another person added.
A police report was filed by one of the crowd members, according to Metro Times. Neither Flint Police Chief Terence Green nor Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley has publicly commented on the incident.
Great Job Yasmeen F. & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
