A white woman called the cops on a black family for barbecuing at a park in Oakland, California. After the family confronted her, she broke down in tears and complained about being harassed.
Michelle Snider and her husband Kenzie Smith were setting up for a weekend cookout at Lake Merritt last month like they’ve done for years. This time, however, a stranger got involved. Enter the white cop-caller. In comments to local news outlet, KRON4, Smith recalled:
She said that we were trespassing, we were not welcome, and then she turned back around and said, “Ya’ll going to jail.”
In the video, Snider, Smith, and the woman argue while the woman registers her complaint with police dispatchers. As she’s on the phone, the woman repeatedly complains to the police about their own response time as well. At one point, Snider refers to the woman as “the fucking coal Nazi police,” while asking the woman to return a card she took from Snider’s hand. The woman refuses and a physical confrontation nearly ensues.
The white woman quickly gets fed up with the police and starts to complain that she’s being threatened by the family. Eventually, she crosses the street and Snider follows her, again asking for the woman to return Snider’s card. The woman continually refuses. An officer finally arrives as the white woman and Snider are standing in a gas station parking and asks Snider to back away. She complies and both women give their accounts of the event. The white woman says, struggling through tears:
I reported about over two hours ago some people were illegally grilling in the park with a charcoal grill where they’re not supposed to, I was waiting there for a response because I was told they’re coming. After two hours, I just called back the non-emergency line, and in the interim these people came up and started harassing me, physically pushing me.
Snider disputes this characterization of events and says, “I did not physically push her. She stole my card and I wanted it back. I did not touch her. I have witnesses.” The officer tells Snider to be quiet and then asks about the exact municipal code violation believed to have been violated. The woman provides the information as the video cuts out.
From the lengthy video, it’s unclear exactly when and how the white woman took Snider’s card, however she does admit to taking it and does not give it back. It’s also unclear if, at any point, Snider physically touched the complaining woman (who mentions an alleged unwanted touching from Snider at around the five-minute-mark) but it doesn’t appear that the woman was pushed at any point.
Ultimately, Oakland Police decided against charging anyone over the incident.
[image via screengrab]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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