A video of Los Angeles police officers training five guns on an unarmed black woman went viral recently with accusations of racism; however, the woman was a dangerous suspected felon.
The video was taken from a cell phone at a Starbucks across the street. The police keep their guns aimed at 25-year-old suspect Amber Neal while the video tracks her progress as she exits her vehicle with her hands above her head and walks backwards as instructed by the officers.
“That is unnecessary,” a man’s voice is heard saying on the video. “Wow. Wow, really? We’ve got one, two, three, four, five — five guns pointed at this woman, at this unarmed black woman.”
The video went viral with more than two million views. Not because this was a dangerous suspect wanted in connection with the kidnapping of two actors, but because of the color of her skin. How quick people are to instantly assume racial injustice. It never occurred to them that the arrest could be anything other than harassment of a black woman.
However, Neal, along with her alleged accomplices Keith Andre Stewart, 33, and Johntae Jones, 27, was wanted in connection with kidnapping and a host of other charges. According to NBC Los Angeles, Stewart and Jones kidnapped Daisy McCrackin, an actress from “Halloween Resurrection,” from her home. When actor Joseph Capone tried to intervene, he was reportedly pistol-whipped.
The two actors were taken to a home in Compton, where Capone was stripped naked and held in a bathtub for 30 hours without food. According to the indictment, McCrackin was told she would have to pay a ransom of $10,000 to secure Capone’s release. Neal and Jones took the actress’ vehicle and drove her around to several banks, at one point allegedly forcing her to sign a $10,000 check over to them.
The video, of course, is the arrest of Neal. In an effort to be more transparent with the public, the Los Angeles police department began a program to release arrest videos to the public within 45 days. But, instead of helping to close the chasm of distrust between law enforcement and citizens, the video sparked anger and outrage as viewers jumped to conclusions of police brutality and racism.
The hype and hysteria surrounding anything that can be construed as racism is taking its toll. People are seeing the boogeyman around every corner, on every street, and within every person. They are now conditioned to see the color of a person’s skin before any other detail. All that the brainwashed mind can see is Neal, an unarmed black woman, surrounded by police pointing guns at her.
