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California Police Swarm an Unarmed Black Man With Guns Drawn in Viral Video

On Saturday, Instagram user @blueasdasky released a nearly five-minute long video she recorded of Hawthorne, Calif., police drawing their weapons on an unarmed black man. Suggested Reading The Root 100 – 2020 Black History Month – 2022 Hip-Hop 50 Year – 2023 Video will return here when scrolled back into view Stefon Diggs and Cardi…

On Saturday, Instagram user @blueasdasky released a nearly five-minute long video she recorded of Hawthorne, Calif., police drawing their weapons on an unarmed black man.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
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Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach

In the viral clip, she can be heard pleading for police not to shoot a man who identifies himself as William and asserts heโ€™s actually the victim of violence at the hands of unruly police officers.

โ€œWhy are your guns pulled on this young man?โ€ she asks.

โ€œI ainโ€™t got no weapons!โ€ he replies into the camera. โ€œMake sure you add that they attacked me. At the gas station, they attacked me.โ€

USA Todayย identified the man as William Ewell, 47, who was stopped by police for an alleged robbery-assault that reportedly happened June 7.

As the scene grows more intense, the woman eventually bursts into tears as she recalls her boyfriend suffering a similar fate (โ€œThey killed my boyfriend in 2015!โ€) and begs for police not to take Williamโ€™s life.

โ€œI donโ€™t understand why yโ€™all got guns drawn on him right now. Are yโ€™all about to kill this man?โ€ she asks. โ€œLike, look at these big-ass guns they got on this man right now.โ€

Eventually, one of the officers approaches the woman and despite what sheโ€™s just witnessed, attempts to assure her that the situation is under control.

โ€œWe got a call about a robbery [โ€ฆ] he seemed to match the description weโ€™re just detaining him. Weโ€™re not saying heโ€™s a suspect [โ€ฆ] try to relax. It says a weapon was involved thatโ€™s the only reason he gets held at gunpoint,โ€ the officer says. โ€œItโ€™s just for our safety and everybody aroundโ€™s safety, OK?โ€

Since the release of the video, Twitter has been flooded by users expressing their disgust at Hawthorne PD.

https://twitter.com/KenidraRWoods_/status/1137693933742501888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/BROWNGlRL/status/1137475973471801344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Thankfully this situation concluded without the young man losing his life, but itโ€™s scary to imagine how it might have ended had the woman not been there to document what was going on.

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