Now, THIS Is Racist: White Woman Calls Police On Black Man Waiting For Her Parking Space

Devin Myers, a black man, dropped off his girlfriend at the Inn Season Cafe in Royal Oak, Michigan and went to search for a parking space in a busy lot. He spotted a woman and her son getting into their car and assumed they were about to vacate their space, so he waited to pull in. When it appeared she was not leaving, he found another space.

In the meantime, the woman who did not immediately leave her space called the police and told them that a man (Myers) had been “looking at her suspiciously” and had photographed she and her son.

As Myers walked into the restaurant, he was approached by two police officers who demanded to see his identification and detained him for over 20 minutes. Myers requested that a supervisor be called to the scene. “The supervisor continued to detain Myers, although he was not handcuffed or arrested.”

The manager of the restaurant, Erin Frey, told the Detroit Free Press that Myers’ girlfriend had been waiting inside the restaurant when the police stopped him and said he had been questioned for almost an hour.

A passerby filmed the incident and posted it on Facebook. The viral video is shown below.

Facebook Video: https://www.facebook.com/kimyhills/videos/10220672436347227/?t=21

This incident occurred on Tuesday. Following a brief investigation, Royal Oak Police Department Chief Corrigan O’Donahue issued a public apology to Myers which said:

On behalf of the police department, I would like to apologize to Mr. Myers for how he was treated. The officer had no legal right to demand identification and should have simply advised Mr. Myers why we were there and allowed him to go on his way.

…

This is not the practice of the Royal Oak Police Department and it is not acceptable. The supervisor has been disciplined and every Royal Oak police supervisor has received additional training in procedural justice.

(The full statement is printed at the bottom of this page.)

Simon Shaykhet of WXYZ shared a video of Myers “speaking out,” He tweeted that Myers “& an attorney met w/ Chief, to file formal COMPLAINT. He says he feels RACIALLY PROFILED & won’t return to Royal Oak.”

I would say that Myers has a pretty strong case.

HAPPENING NOW: 20 year old Devin Myers SPEAKS OUT after a woman called police claiming he was acting “suspiciously.” Today, he & an attorney met w/ Chief, to file formal COMPLAINT. He says he feels RACIALLY PROFILED & won’t return to Royal Oak. ⁦@wxyzdetroit⁩ #5:30PM pic.twitter.com/ADzIdsJjkl

— Simon Shaykhet WXYZ (@simonshaykhet) August 15, 2019

Here is the full statement from the Royal Oak Police Department Chief: (via wxyz.com)

The Royal Oak Police Department has completed our internal investigation into the August 13 incident involving an African American man and the Royal Oak police.

On behalf of the police department, I would like to apologize to Mr. Myers for how he was treated. What should have been a very short encounter was extended when the officer involved insisted on getting Mr. Myers’ identification. The officer had no legal right to demand the identification and should have simply advised Mr. Myers why we were there and allowed him to go on his way. The officer involved is a new, probationary officer and he made a mistake. This officer will be provided with remedial training to address this issue.

Early in this encounter, Mr. Myers requested a supervisor make the scene. Although the first officer did not call for a supervisor, the second officer on scene did.

The responding supervisor did not handle this situation in a manner I expect Royal Oak supervisors to conduct themselves. He did quickly advise Mr. Myers that he was free to go; however, he did not effectively look into the situation or allow those present the opportunity to express their concerns.

This is not the practice of the Royal Oak Police Department and it is not acceptable. The supervisor has been disciplined and every Royal Oak police supervisor has received additional training in procedural justice.

This incident stemmed from a 911 call in which the caller reported she was uncomfortable because a male subject was circling her vehicle, staring at her from across the street, and was possibly taking pictures of her and her son. In total, Mr. Myers was verbally detained for approximately 19 minutes. A supervisor was called to the scene, per Mr. Myers request, about 6 minutes into the encounter and the supervisor arrived approximately 11 minutes later (17 minutes into the encounter). Mr. Myers was advised he was free to go 2 minutes after that.

This is an unfortunate incident where the ROPD did not live up to our own standards.

Corrective action has been taken and we will continue to hold all members of the ROPD to the highest standards.

The post Now, THIS Is Racist: White Woman Calls Police On Black Man Waiting For Her Parking Space appeared first on RedState.