We have one more thing to add to the list of things that lead to Black people having the police called on them: moving into a new home.
Not joking. A resident of an Upper West Side apartment building in New York called the police to report a "burglary in progress" this past Friday. The NYPD reported and spoke to the "burglar" who was actually Darren Martin, a former White House staffer who was in the process of moving into his new apartment unit in the 5-story walk up.
Pix 11 reports that Martin said on Instagram: "I’m in my apartment but you know – you can’t go nowhere without the cops following me. Somebody called the cops on me in my own building. About how many are ya’ll? About six of ya’ll showed up, rolled up on me.” (Video here)
In the video you can hear one of the officers 2-way where the dispatcher is describing the call, and chillingly it is described as:
“Somebody was trying to break in the door with a possible weapon...a large tool.”
Can you imagine if the police came in with guns drawn, fully expecting an armed burglar?
Martin said the following about the incident: “As a black man when you’re in an all-white environment, you’re cognizant of that. I have to say I found it kinda symbolic. [It’s] like welcome to the neighborhood.”
Martin just signed a one year lease and plans to stay for the duration. I hope this is a wake-up call to his neighbor(s) who were all too quick to jump to conclusions, a decision that could have ended with another innocent black man being shot for doing nothing wrong, except being born a black man.
(h/t WaltB31 on Twitter)
