Another day, another story about the cops being called on Black people for simply just existing. However, in this latest instance, the police confronted the white caller for the false alarm.
Michael Hayes, a Black real estate investor in Memphis, TN, recently shared a video that captures his experience with a racist neighbor when he went to inspect a house he had recently invested in.
When Hayes started looking around the house, the next door neighbor — a white woman — came out to demand why he was there.
Hayes tried to explain that he had permission to be at the house, even providing paperwork to prove his point, yet the woman wasn’t having any of it and called the police.
Hayes began recording the situation as soon as the cops arrived. Surprisingly, they listened to him and agreed he had the right to be there. The officers then scolded the woman for her false alarm and even told Hayes to call them back if the neighbor gave him any problems.
“If you have any problems with her, what I want you to do is call me back over here,” a male officer told Hayes. “She will go to jail for that.”
“Hurry up, do it and get out!” the woman then said to Hayes. She even threatened that she was friendly with the sheriff.
“He can take all day,” the officer replied to her.
At Hayes’ request, the officers agreed to stay with him as he took photos of the home.
“The police, they were on my side,” Hayes says at the end of the video. “I’m happy to be going home now.”
Hayes’ incident was one of many in the recent weeks of white people calling the cops on people of color for minor issues, including barbecuing in a public park, staying at an Airbnb, and community service.