Franklin Baxley recorded a video of a woman reporting him to police because of his dog
Attleboro, MA — Franklin Baxley, a 42-year old Black man from Massachusetts, says a white woman called 911 on him apparently because his dog “assaulted” hers at a local dog park. The incident, which he recorded on video and shared on Facebook, has sparked outrage on social media.
Baxley reportedly took his pitbull named Dusse and his nephew’s dog to Attleboro Dog Park last week. Shortly after arriving, he saw a woman becoming “visibly frustrated” when Dusse humped her dog. He separated the dogs and apologized to the woman, who still asked him to leave the park.
When he refused to leave, the woman told him she will call the police to report him. He decided to record the incident and he posted it on Facebook, which now has over a million views.
“Your dog keeps humping my dog and assaults,” the white woman, who was unidentified, can be heard saying as she continued asking him to leave the park.
The woman can also be seen in the video calling 911 claiming that Baxley “verbally assaulted” her and that his dog assaulted her dog.
Another woman, who was also unidentified but may have been a volunteer for the dog park, intervened in the video and told Baxley that his dog is behaving “inappropriately” and he is breaking the rules.
Baxley, who was a former attorney, replied, “I know the rules. I’ve seen every single dog hump another dog here.”
He continued recording and said to the camera, “You heard of Barbecue Becky cause this is the newest one, right here. I bet if I was white you wouldn’t have called the cops.”
A police officer did respond to the woman’s call after a short while. The officer was quick to tell him about his car engine running, which was a “motor vehicle citation.” Baxley then tried to explain what had happened, but instead, he was accused of threatening the woman just because he was standing near her.
“Don’t do that, sir. Don’t do that to people,” the officer reportedly told him. “That could be considered as an assault because even though you didn’t touch the person, but you’re like that close.”
No citation was issued but before leaving, the police officer threatened to ticket him for his running car. The Attleboro Police Department hasn’t issued any comment about the incident yet.
Meanwhile, Baxley believed the woman was being racist and she called the police because she was uncomfortable that he is Black.
“This is the America we live in, and it’s sad,” he told The Huffington Post. “It’s sad that this woman felt her first response to a conflict with a black man was to call the police when it’s completely minor and there is no crime being committed.”
Watch the live footage below: