*We can now add riding in the car with white people to the list of things people consider ‘suspicious black activity,’ as a Black teenager riding home from church with his white grandmother was handcuffed in Wisconsin after a false robbery report.
18-year-old Akil Carter was detained after police received a report that he was robbing an older white lady in her car. The only problem? They were in the car together and he is her grandson.
As reported by New York Daily News, video shows Carter was detained for six minutes Sunday after his grandmother’s blue Lexus was pulled over by officers of the Wauwatosa Police Department.
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Beyonce Shares Emotional ‘Your B*tch at 36’ Message to Celebrate Her Birthday
Capt. Brian Zalewski told the Daily News an officer on patrol had been flagged down by a black couple who claimed two black men had just robbed a white woman, and were sitting in the back of a blue Lexus. He added that the citizen who reported the incident did not stick around to give a formal statement.
After the officer asks his grandmother if everything is OK, she informs them that Carter is her grandson and that they’re headed back to her house from church.
Watch the interrogation go down via the clip below.
“I’m telling you this is my grandson. This is my best friend. I’ve known him since he was a baby,” the woman says in a concerned voice.
According to the report, the officer explains that a passerby told him two black men were robbing a white woman in her car, and apologizes “for that guy not knowing what he was talking about.”
“I’m sure he saw two old white ladies in a car with a black kid and made some assumptions,” she replied, adding it was “even worse” that the false claim came from a black man.
Additional footage also shows a handcuffed Carter in the backseat of the patrol vehicle being questioned.
“I’m guessing what this sounds like is a really big misunderstanding. I’m not exactly quite sure what’s going on,” the officer tells him as Carter explains that the car’s driver is a friend of his grandmother, and his grandma is the front seat passenger.
He is eventually allowed to leave the vehicle.
Carter’s attorney Joy Bertrand told the Daily News: “We’re really trying to give the police the benefit of the doubt with this,” she said. “(But) nothing they’ve disclosed to the press helps them. The officer’s explanation is so strange. It really points to the question of, ‘What is your motivation?’”
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
