A Michigan realtor was
doing his job in broad daylight,
doing his job.
And he was handcuffed and
detained by local police along with
a couple other folks that were
there while he was doing his job.
I don't want to give up too much
information on this yet,
because the details of this
are just a little bit devastating.
Let's go straight to it.
So Eric Brown is the realtor,
he's a black realtor,
he's a black man,
and he's in Wyoming, Michigan.
And he had been given
a potential buyer,
who also happened to be black, and
his 15 year old son a tour
of a home that is on the market.
So just minutes into the viewing on
August 1, Brown's client noticed
several police officers outside
the home with their weapons
pointing toward the property.
So Brown and client tried
to explain why they were in
the home from a second floor window
to no avail because the members
of the Wyoming Police Department
had their guns still drawn and
demanded that they all come out in
single file with their hands up.
That's the realtor, that's
the potential buyer, and that is
the potential buyer's son, placed
all three of them in handcuffs.
So they kept their guns drawn on
all of us,
this is what was said by Roy Thorne
who was the potential buyer.
He said they kept their guns drawn
in us until all of us
were in cuffs.
So that was a little traumatizing,
I guess, because under the current
climate of things, you just don't
know what's going to happen.
So I want you to imagine that
situation.
My wife and I and kid have been to
some open houses, have been to
some showings for houses, a lot
of people buying houses lately.
And you're just going on your
normal Saturday afternoon to go and
view a house.
And then within several minutes of
being inside the house, you're
filed out with your hands up,
with your kid, and handcuffed and
sat down and interrogated.
So what happened after that was,
it was only once they're sitting
down in cuffs that Brown was able
to show his real estate credentials
to the officers who released
him immediately after realizing
their error.
And he said that officer came back
and apologized again, but
at the same time the damage was
already done, is what Roy Thorne
told this local TV station.
My son was a little bit disturbed,
he hadn't seen anything like that.
He is not going to forget this.
So what did the police department
in Wyoming,
Michigan then have to say?
According to them,
officers were responding to a 911
call from a neighbor reporting
there was a break in at the home.
Officers were aware that a previous
burglary had occurred
at the same address on July 24,
and that a suspect was arrested and
charged for unlawful entry during
that incident.
That's what the Captain,
Timothy Pols, said in a statement.
He said the caller indicated that
he previously arrested the suspect
and returned and
again entered the house.
I'm not sure how the neighbor just
knows all this,
I don't know if the neighbor works
at the police department.
Not sure if the neighbor's in
booking, I'm not sure if
the neighbor's the person who
does lineups.
I'm not sure what the neighbor
is anywhere in law enforcement, but
somehow the police thought that
the neighbor had all this
definitive information enough for
them to drive up,
jump out their cars, and draw their
guns on a house in a neighborhood.
>> Yeah, so
guys the racial assumptions aren't
just from the police.
They're unfortunately also from
the neighbors.
Now think about a couple of things
just based on pure logic.
Let's say that there was a robbery,
there probably was, okay,
in the house.
Let's just take that as a given,
right?
Do you think that the neighbor
called the cops
every time a realtor came in, or
every time a new family came to
look at the house?
Because the house is for
sale, presumably that's happening
all the time.
No, he called them one time that
the people involved were black.
He said, there's a bunch of
burglars next to me.
Why did he or
she make that assumption?
Guys, I can't get past
the injustice of if you're black in
this country, people constantly
assuming that you're guilty.
It's too oppressive to think about.
Just please,
step outside of your own shoes for
a second.
And I'm asking you because
I'm the non-black person
on this panel, right?
And so I've done this many times
and I hope you can do it.
And that you could begin to find
some empathy.
They pulled the guns on this family
and then they handcuffed him after
seeing it's a family with a 15 year
old son, right?
And presumably, they were dressed
fairly well because it's
a professional realtor there and
the family's going to see a house.
They see people probably dressed in
business attire and a family.
Now, if they came in guns drawn
because they got the call
from the neighbor, right?
And then they saw a white family
and a white realtor dressed in a
realtor outfit, again, presumably.
Do you think they would have kept
the guns drawn and
handcuffed them before they
found out what was going on?
Some of you might say yes, but
you're just living in a different
reality than we are, Adrienne?
>> No, absolutely, and
a lot of people love to live in
that reality of denial of the fact
that our society does not treat
everyone the same.
And that there are stereotypes that
follow people around.
And we also have to bear in mind
that this likely happened
during the day.
You think someone's going to
commit a burglary during the day
with a 15 year old, and
I'm sure there's a for sale sign on
the front of the property.
Just there are too many factors
that tell you that this was
racially motivated,
even if this captain of police says
he does not believe that race
played a role in this.
The fact is that some of us cannot
walk the streets living our normal
lives without a presumption of
criminality that gets
attached to us.
And I can't begin to tell you
how it impacts my daily life where
I feel I have to tiptoe.
I have to go the extra mile to make
sure people don't think I'm up
to no good.
When you just can't be yourself and
enter predominantly white areas
like Wyoming, Michigan, which is
73% white and only about 8% black,
you cannot truly live your life.
And do you think that family will
buy buy a house there?
No, because they've essentially
been told you're not welcome here,
you're presumed to be a criminal.
>> So as these types of things
happen, Adrienne, that was
the first thought I had too,
because when neighbors are looking
at a house, anytime you move in
anywhere, even if it's just for
a rental, you're like [SOUND[,
I hope my neighbors aren't A-holes.
Man, I really want to deal with
people that I don't like.
And you don't find that out until
you meet them.
But in some cases, people will just
look at you and go, yeah, I don't
want to live near him or that other
person, because that's not type of
person I'm going to live next to.
Let's keep it real.
Yes, that's an assumption, but
that's an assumption based off of
a history of facts [LAUGH] of how
this works and the way people run
folks out of their neighborhood.
And also do you think that this
realtor is going to be very
comfortable showing
the house anymore
at all in this neighborhood?
Guns have been drawn on them.
And as you point out as well,
because cops said
it was not racially motivated.
How the hell do you know?
How do you know?
Were you in the house with the
person who called the cops on him?
And also he said that putting them
all in handcuffs and sitting them
down is a part of their protocol,
department protocol.
Is part of the protocol to pull
your guns on a house when someone's
inside?
What is the threat on your life?
Multiple police officers that
are out front.
Was there some call where they said
a man walked in with a long gun and
said he's going to hoard himself up
in this house until the cops come
and get him out?
What reason do you have walking up
with guns?
>> Yeah, so by the way,
this happens very frequently.
There's another case that was
publicized.
There's tons of cases that are not
publicized where people just
get frustrated and go home.
But in Cincinnati this happened
with a black realtor and his client
in 2019 just last December.
It happened in Arlington, Virginia
with a black real estate agent and
a photographer who was hired to
take pictures of houses so
they could list them,
they can put it up online.
I interviewed Steve Hill,
who does a similar job,
assesses houses, takes pictures,
got pulled over by police.
And you can check out that
interview on The Conversation.
He ran for office up in Palmdale.
And so it happens over and over and
over again.
I'm just going to ask you to
emphasize one last time.
Look, we've terrorized black people
in this country for
hundreds of years.
And told people you should assume
all these terrible things
about them.
And there's nothing they could do.
They said based on their skin
color, you should assume
they're criminals,
they're more likely to be violent.
I don't even want to get,
every time I think about all
the stereotypes it makes me sick.
Now you gotta walk around with that
on you at all times.
You gotta be thinking, okay, who's
going to accuse me of something?
What do they think about me when I
didn't even do anything.
Now, if you're white or
you're not black,
you never dealt with that.
You never went to a house to look
at it and thought is a cop going to
arrest me for
looking at an open house, right?
Or going to pull a gun on me?
So for God's sake,
I'm asking you to have empathy so
we can all fix this together.
>> One more thought,
if you've ever, I promise
we're leaving now, if you've ever
said where are the fathers and
these black folks, that's what's
wrong with our society.
That's what's wrong with the black,
whatever it was,
what's the term that was used?
The black, not even community.
>> Culture. >> But they say, yeah,
black culture.
Man, the fathers [INAUDIBLE].
Here's a father with
his 15 year old son.
What if he got shot by cops and
where would his father be?
He wouldn't be there or
maybe the son would have gotten
shot because apparently that kid is
old enough to be seen as a criminal
just on site.
Why don't these black folks get
a real job and go ahead and start
being true members of society?
Hey, there's a black realtor,
he's professional, and
he's doing his job, but
he's been run out of the community.
So the next time you ask why black
folks aren't doing the things that
black folks are doing that you just
don't know about,
consider the fact that maybe some
other folks don't want them there.
Don't want those fathers in
the homes,
don't really care anything about
the lives of these folks because
they're not real humans to them.
Because we've been conditioned
since forever to think that.
Look at them, make a judgment, and
then make a definitive,
life ending action towards them.
And then see if you're very
comfortable with that life,
you won't be.
>> Yep. >> You just absolutely
won't be. >> [INAUIDIBLE] Yeah,
and if you're also non-black,
be an ally.
I can't begin to tell you how many
great friends I have who have
accompanied me places that
I couldn't go or
because I knew I'd be hassled or
mistreated in some way.
And so they've stood by my side,
they've been a conduit,
they've pushed back.
So if you have that power and
that authority,
please use that privilege.
>> Man, if the cops have their guns
drawn, and you just reach for
your cell phone because you don't
know what's happening and you're
going to call your wife, this is
not the right way to do things.