Devin Meyers while being harrassed by the police
Royal Oak, MI — A white woman in Michigan reportedly called the police on Devin Meyers, a 20-year old Black man for allegedly “looking suspiciously” at her. A Facebook live stream recorded by Kimiko Adolph, another woman who happened to be passing by during the time of the incident, shows the police officers surrounding and questioning Meyers.“He has been pulled over walking to go to eat for suspicion of being Black and looking at the Caucasian woman,” Adolph narrated in the video showing Meyers talking to officers, at least two police cars pulled up. “They got him surrounded. So I’m not going to leave the brother out here.”
Adolph said she was going to a CVS in the area when she noticed police officers surrounding a Black man who was alone. She saw that the officers were questioning him and refusing to let him go, so she decided to stop and film.
“I have three Black sons, and he was by himself, surrounded for no reason,” Adolph told the Daily Dot. “Nobody was filming, and I knew I had to.”
Apparently, Meyers was looking for a parking spot near Inn Season Cafe when the woman, who was with her son in her car parked in the area, thought that Meyers was watching them and taking pictures of them. The woman then called 911 saying that she was frightened.
Meyers was on his way to the restaurant to meet a friend when the police arrived and questioned him for over 20 minutes.
Meyers said the incident has troubled him.
“I believe I was racially profiled,” Meyers told the Daily Tribune. “I thought it could be bad when the first officer said a white lady called and said I was suspicious. I was acting calm, but deep down I was scared.”
The Royal Oak police said they have completed an internal investigation of the stop. Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue apologized to Meyers and stated that the officer who did the initial stop is a new probationary hire.
“This is an unfortunate incident and was not indicative of our officers’ conduct,” he said. “We’re taking measures to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”