Cyclist Holds His Ground As Orlando Police Stops Him
A controversial TikTok video posted on Tuesday, April 20, in which two bike-riding Black men are accosted at gunpoint by police, has been viewed more than three million times.
The clip, entitled âWhat you think happen,â was shared by @riskie_e and shows the person who posted and his friend riding their bicycles past a police car in Orlando at 11:47 p.m. Monday, when the officers suddenly pulled out their guns and shouted at them to get on the ground. The men, one of whom was wearing a GoPro camera, are visibly frightened and asked what they did wrong.
The two plead their innocence, but ultimately follow orders, lying on their stomachs, before police then tell them to crawl in the direction of the police car.
Several other videos chronicling the aftermath of the incident were also uploaded by @riskie_e, including one where he is asking the police why they are being targeted, and an officer says, âYou are being detained as a part of an investigation; you match the description of two suspects.â
In another video, the man wearing the camera repeatedly affirmed their innocence, asked probing questions and explicitly stated heâs not giving the officers permission to search him.
âI mean I would like to know whatâs going on,â he said. âI donât consent to any searches or any type of seizures, cuz I didnât do anything wrong. I didnât commit no crime. I just left 7-Eleven⦠I donât know what description you guys are talking about but I feel violated right now. You guys got my buddy right there crawling. Iâm in cuffs. I didnât do nothing wrong.â
At another point he invokes his fifth amendment right but relents and provides the officer his identification in the form of a passport but doesnât budge when asked for his address. âIâm gonna invoke my fifth amendment right to remain silent, you guys got my ID. Iâm not saying anything else because I didnât do anything wrong.â
Later, they were let go when police verified they were not the suspects but they were fingerprinted and held for a few hours, according to the young man filming because âthey fit the description of two suspects that just committed a robbery.â
When contacted for comment, Orlando Police Department spokesperson Autumn Jones told the Orlando Sentinel that 10 minutes before the incident occurred, the officers were looking out for suspects involved in the robbery of a tourist who claimed Black men of âdarker complexionsâ riding bicycles attacked him and stole his wallet, camera and Apple Watch, Jones said.
Jones also stated that the officers pulled out their guns because the robbery suspects had told the victim they were armed.
âThey were stopped in the immediate area of the armed robbery and were detained to determine if they were the suspects responsible for the violent crime,â she told the Orlando Sentinel.
Additional videos after the incident were uploaded by @riskie_e, revealing that the victim of the robbery was brought to the scene where they were and confirmed the two young men were not the suspects.
After video of the arrest emerged online, Orlando police released body camera footage of a police officer apologizing to the men after they were released.
âI apologize that it wasnât you, but you guys matched the description and thatâs why I did what I did,â said the officer.
One of the men answered, âHonestly you cannot apologize for pulling a gun on me.â
Given the political atmosphere in the country, many people commented on the cyclist’s videos expressing their condolences.
“Thank god you guys were not another hashtag. Hope you get justice for the trauma you had to experience,” wrote one user.
“Hurts my heart this happened to you both, and thank goodness you have it on tape and lived to tell,” wrote another.