Activists, community leaders and the many family members left behind have worked non-stop to bring about a resolve in the midst of continued police killings targeting African-Americans.
Furthering those efforts, one courageous Black man recently went the extra mile to stand up for a Black woman he felt was being harassed by Richmond, Virginia law enforcement during a traffic stop.
In a video clip shared to his Facebook page, Ben McBride is seen standing between two White police officers and a Black woman they’d recently pulled over for seemingly failing to have the proper tags and registration for the car she was driving. The 4-minute-long clip hears McBride deliver a pointed and powerful message to the cops, criticizing them for not using better discretion during the encounter. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” McBride adamantly tells the officers as they remain silent and continue filling out paperwork. “You didn’t use discretion that you could’ve used to write her a ticket and allow her the margin to be able to go and get the kind of tags necessary for her vehicle. There’s no criminal record here, you didn’t find anything in the car. But you chose not to use discretion.”
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A tow truck can be seen in the background of the video as McBride continues.
“And that, sir, is the reason why Black people do not have trust for White police officers in their communities, where you do not live, and where you have no sense of commitment to the life and the needs of the people in the community,” he added. McBride rounds out the truthful moment by suggesting to the officers that if they can’t handle being critiqued by the residents who pay their salaries, they should leave the community altogether.
Watch the video clip in full below.