Burleson, TX — Brian Friar, a 39-year old Black man from Texas, says he was terrified when 3 police officers with guns suddenly confronted him at a gas station ATM because he apparently had too many credit cards. During the encounter caught on video, they demanded him to prove that all of his own credit cards belonged to him.
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He started recording the incident when two other armed officers surrounded him and he began to feel afraid that what happened to George Floyd would happen to him too.
In the video, one of the officers can be heard saying, “Prove to me the rest of the cards are yours. You got like ten there, man.”
“All those are mine,” Friar responded.
He explained that he used the wrong PIN at the ATM and he had to use his phone to unlock it. He showed them 3 credit cards with his name on it, but he was told to slow down.
Still, another officer proceeded with asking him why he is in Burleson. Friar said he was getting a tattoo and that he had to hurry to go to his wife, whose car broke down nearby.
Friar believes the incident was racially motivated and said that it wouldn’t have happened if he was a white man.
“They were harassing me. I was a black man in a dominant white town,” Friar said. “I wasn’t dressed like a bum — I hadn’t done anything wrong.”
The incident ended as the police officers let Friar go with the cash he had withdrawn, but Friar was still shaken up.
Meanwhile, Burleson Chief Billy Cordell said that the officers approached Friar when someone told them that he was using multiple credit cards and was getting declined by the ATM.
“He said the man was acting suspiciously. The officers approached the man, activated their body-worn cameras, and explained why they were contacting him,” Cordell said. “Officers observed multiple receipts and cards as described by the witness. Officers asked him if he minded sharing identification to match the name on the cards and he eventually provided identification and cards.”