Faith Ekakitie stopped by police at gunpoint over mistaken identity

[jpak]

Source: ESPN

Iowa defensive lineman Faith Ekakitie wrote that he "feared for my life" when stopped by police in a park Wednesday while playing the popular mobile game "Pokemon Go" in a case of mistaken identity.

Ekakitie wrote in a Facebook post that approximately five Iowa City police officers stopped him and four guns were pointed at him as police searched for a suspect who had robbed a nearby bank 10 minutes earlier.

"My pockets were checked, my backpack was opened up and searched carefully, and I was asked to lift up my shirt while they searched my waistband," Ekakitie wrote. "Not once did they identify themselves to me as Iowa City Police officers, but with four gun barrels staring me in the face, I wouldn't dare question the authority of the men and woman in front of me. This is what happened from my point of view."

Ekakitie said he did not initially respond to police orders to stop because he was approached from behind and was wearing headphones.

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Read more: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/17134494/faith-ekakitie-iowa-hawkeyes-says-was-held-gunpoint-being-misidentified-bank-robber

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[Judi Lynn]

1. Oh, yeah, they though he had, perhaps, "robbed a bank." Uh-huh.

He actually reminded them of someone they'd love to legally intimidate, maybe knock around, pretending he resisted arrest.

[uhnope]

3. so you embrace half of the headline but reject the other half

because the second half doesn't conform to preconceived bias

[cyberswede]

22. LOL - it's Iowa City.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. More "fittin' the description".

[uhnope]

4. My (Irish)American friend was surrounded by police with assault rifles in Italy

because he looked like a wanted member of the IRA. Years ago, in a park when he was a tourist.

Mistaken identity happens, so in these times of terrible events, let's not bend over backwards to include this incident into a category that it might not qualify for

[IronLionZion]

5. People who don't look like the majority of a population

will tend to stick out more easily or be assumed to be suspicious.

[uhnope]

8. yes. And I am not taking away from the fear this man must have felt given the police crisis

in the USA, but I hope that he feels a little better knowing it was a case of mistaken identity and not PWB (Pokemon While Black))

[Igel]

17. Think about it.

If a description is a "large black man, around 30" in a population that's mostly white, there are going to be fewer candidates.

If a description is a "large white man, around 30" in a population that's mostly white, there are going to be a lot of candidates.

The one with fewer candidates is more actionable. You may stop 10 guys, but there's reasonable chance if it's quick and nearby that you'll get the guy. But if you have a population 3 times larger, you'd have to stop 30 guys for the same odds. You'll need more details.

It's flipped in minority-majority neighborhoods. Where I live, a description "white youth, around 18, brown hair" probably refers to a single person. But "black youth, around 18, short hair" would yield dozens of candidates.

I suspect a lot of cops wouldn't abandon their idea of what the odds are like as they move between neighborhoods with different demographics, whether the cops are white or black.

(Now, pitch in cross-racial differences in face recognition, and the problem gets harder. And, no, that's not a racist thing, it's a developmental psychology thing.)

It's not just "different skin tone = suspicious", not for a lot of people. (Most? Dunno.)

[Darb]

13. Cool story bro.

Thanks for sharing.

[LanternWaste]

15. Let's also not bend over backwards top rationalize it as something other than what it most likely is

Let's also not bend over backwards top rationalize it as something other than what it most likely is, regardless of anecdotal evidences.

[uhnope]

16. "most likely" is in the eye of the beholder. Did you read the article?

by this own account:

as police searched for a suspect who had robbed a nearby bank 10 minutes earlier.

and

In his Facebook post, Ekakitie thanked the officers for acting professionally and encouraged people to be more aware of their surroundings.

[Justice]

6. "Not once did they identify themselves to me as Iowa City Police officers"

I hope he is believed when he says the cops are not identifying themselves. That is not protocol or policy or anything. Seems to me that the cops involved should be questioned about procedures.

[Igel]

18. However, he was wearing earphones.

So perhaps they did and he's confusing all he knows about the situation with all there is to know.

Perhaps they didn't identify themselves once he did the equivalent of taking his fingers out of his ears and stopping singing La-la-la.

I learned my lesson as a teen, driving with the volume so high I couldn't hear the sirens behind me. I was in the way of an ambulance, pulled over quickly and nobody reported me. But I slowed an ambulance. Now I see a lot of people doing the same thing, driving while tuned out and with a cone of noise to block out the world; or on foot and disconnected from the world (and just tuned into their world). Not a good thing, either way.

[cyberswede]

23. Three of them were in uniform.

There's bodycam video, too.

[Vinca]

7. Playing Pokeman while black. He's lucky to be alive.

[cyberswede]

24. He did everything right - was calm & did as they asked.

What are the odds of playing Pokemon Go in a park 3 blocks (and 10 minutes later) from a bank robbery? Yikes.

[Democat]

9. This is happening far too often

We need to make sure that racist Trump doesn't end up in the White House.

[Odin2005]

10. I've heard that this is a common story for African-Americans playing Pokemon Go.

Lots of black players getting the cops called on them for "suspicious activity".

[cyberswede]

25. That sucks.

It's one thing, in this case, where there was a reported crime nearby, but if people are so paranoid that they call the police when they see black people walking around with their phones, that's pretty sad.

[madokie]

11. This War on Blacks

is about to PISS me right the fuck off. This is bullshit. There is no doubt in my mind that if I'd been born black I'd be dead right now because I don't do bullshit worth a damn.
I want my black brothers and sisters to know this old white man is in your corner, with you, right now, always.

[OverBurn]

14. +1

[Igel]

19. There was a news story in Houston today.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-police-shoot-man-reportedly-armed-with-gun-8406240.php

We'd all know this if he were black. He's not, so it's not factored into everybody's informal statistical database.

Such incidents are out-sized importance, because many believe that (all) white men in that situation walk away uninjured. "Disproportionate" numbers of blacks are shot, but that disproportionality is relatively small compared to the numbers of reported crimes, to the number of people shot by police, or to the overall numbers shot in the US. But if all you see are instances of that disproportionality, it's like observing the Moon and estimating its size. You lack a valid frame of reference so you can't judge how big or small something is. Perceptions don't really help here.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. The disprotionate rate isn't small

It's twice the proportion to population and no other racial group has negative disproportional rates.

[lostnfound]

12. I'm SO glad he didn't reach for his waistband..

Or his cell phone, his bible, or any other dark object smaller than a breadbox.

BLM.

[cyberswede]

21. There's bodycam footage available

http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2016/07/26/5-questions-iowa-football-player-stopped-by-police/87538248/

[tonyt53]

26. He DID say that he was not offended and that he thanked them for doing their job.

The guy didn't try to make anything out of it, but others took it upon themselves to try to make it more. Classy young man.