Racial profiling or mistaken identity? RPD faces backlash over viral video
The Rochester Police Department is defending the actions of its officers following the recent release of a video showing a Black man being forced into handcuffs while he repeatedly tries to explain to officers that they have the wrong person.
“You are racial profiling,” the man is heard telling officers. “You are assuming I am someone that I am not.”
The release of the footage, captured by a bystander one year ago today outside a bar on Historic Third Street, comes as demonstrations and unrest over the police killing of George Floyd continue to move beyond Minnesota’s border to major cities across the U.S. and beyond.
Protesters are demanding justice for Floyd, as well as reforms to end racial profiling and the use of excessive force by police against people of color.
In a statement Monday, RPD said the man detained by officers was roughly the same height, weight and age as another individual believed to have a warrant out for arrest. The department also said the man “was not cooperative in identifying himself to officers,” which led them to determine they had “reasonable suspicion” to detain him.
Though the man was later let go after officers reviewed his identification, the incident has generated a firestorm of criticism on social media, with video of the interaction being viewed millions of times within 48 hours.
What the video shows
The video opens with the man, whose identity we have not independently confirmed, smoking a cigarette on a patio table outside the pub. The event, according to police, took place on Saturday, June 1, 2019 around 1 a.m.
For the first 30 seconds, the man repeats multiple times that he is not the person police are looking for. “You guys are harassing me,” he says. It is not clear what took place before the recording began.
The RPD officer responds by informing him that he is “not free to go.”
“Am I being detained?” the man asks.
“Yeah, you are,” says the officer.
“For what?”
“Because I think you have a warrant.”
“You think?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s an illusion. You think.”
“Alright, stand up and put your hands behind your back.”
“I’m not—for what?”
As the man states “I do not have a warrant,” the officer places his hands on the man’s left arm and begins to try to pull his arm up. Soon, a second officer enters the screen and the two officers begin to raise the man out of his seat. “We are not going to play this game,” the first officer says. “Get up.”
As officers lift the man up, he insists: “I am not under arrest. I do not have a warrant.” There is a minor struggle between the man and officers before the man lets up and is escorted away from his seat.
Once handcuffed, he urges the officers to “look at my ID,” as a bystander shouts out, “you got the wrong guy. I’m telling y’all.”
“Hey, watch how funny this is,” the man says to the camera as officers search his wallet for an ID.
Officers soon realize the mistake before removing the man’s handcuffs. After the man requests a supervisor, a third officer enters the picture. Much of the sound in the video becomes hard to hear, though the man can be heard stating his intentions to file a complaint against all three officers.
While Twitter users have suggested the man detained was an FBI agent, that is not the case, according to RPD. Our attempts to reach the individual who uploaded the original video were not successful.
In an Instagram post, however, the individual who posted the video said something had been telling him to hold on to the video for the past year.
“Some days we make it home or some days we make it 6 feet deep,” wrote the Instagram user. “Imagine getting killed at home, while jogging, playing, minding your own business or just damn breathing?
“Can’t even smoke a damn cigarette in peace,” he added.
Police Chief Jim Franklin said the supervisor on the scene notified the department’s professional standards manager of the interaction. The officers were not disciplined for their roles in the incident.
“This was a case of mistaken identity, not a violation of policy,” a city spokesperson said via email Monday.
Meanwhile, the city said the chief and Mayor Kim Norton remain committed to working with community leaders and organizations to hear their recommendations on how to bring about meaningful change.
“Although we do not always get things right, the Rochester Police department is an agency dedicated to continuous improvement and providing the highest level of public service to this first class city we serve,” Franklin said in a written statement.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
