Walking while black? Not okay in Michigan

• December 1, 2014
• civil liberties  
• criminal justice  
• racism  

An anxious citizen in Pontiac, Michigan called the police to report a black man walking with his hands in his pockets. Bear in mind that the temperature was near freezing and it was snowing lightly. The police officer didn’t shoot the scary black man. On the contrary, he acted with a surprising amount of professionalism given what we’ve come to expect for such encounters. Nonetheless, the officer did attempt to interrogate the person on the basis of nothing more than a, presumably white, person who was made uncomfortable at the sight of a black man in their neighborhood.

[//www.youtube.com/embed/9_wLTmnKP5I]

What I don’t understand is why the officer didn’t simply observe the person and leave him be when it was clear he wasn’t doing anything that would warrant stopping and interrogating the person. This shit has got to stop.

P.S., Here is another excellent summary of this incident at Daily Kos.