- We actually have a line that we do at our house.
We practice this thing, what is it?
- I'm Ariel Sky Williams.
I'm eight years old.
I'm unarmed and I have nothing that will hurt you.
- It's just kind of a thing that we practice at our house.
(somber instrumental music)
There are great police officers out there.
There's also some police officers who are not so good.
- And my fear is that you run across one of those bad ones.
- For some reason, people of color have always been a target
by the police.
- For they became a policeman, they were a person.
And that person took all their ideas
and all their thoughts and all their prejudice
into their job.
- Why would a police officer assume
that you did something bad?
- Maybe because of my skin color.
- I remember being put in handcuffs
for something that had nothing to do with me.
I was literally walking in the mall,
cops slammed me on the ground,
busted my lip, chipped my tooth.
That actually made me really mad.
- How about the time they pulled us over?
With me in the car, and arrested me,
and left all of you guys sitting in the car
and nobody knew how to drive, on the side of the road,
because the bumper on the car was kind of hanging off.
- No.
- You know, we live in Puyallup,
there's people that don't even have a bumper on their car.
- My rear brake light wasn't working.
And I got to my destination, and they were working.
- When I was about your age actually,
they grabbed me.
- Why?
- I didn't know at the time, they just grabbed me.
They threw me onto the police car.
- I got tased that time.
That time they tased me
because they said I wasn't complying.
Ariel, are you okay?
What's wrong baby?
(Ariel crying)
I'm okay, I'm alive, alright?
Every day I get to see you, I get to do this, right?
Okay, come on, let's calm down, let's finish this, alright?
You good?
Hey, you making me cry.
Come on.
- You have to be careful when you're out there
in this world 'cause this world's not gonna always be honest
or fair to you.
I know Sean, you got a little bit lighter
than the rest of them, so there's a possibility
you won't get stopped.
- [Man] Tell him if you just pulled him over.
- Okay.
If you're driving, cop pulls you over.
- Police gets out of the car, comes to the window,
(imitates knocking)
what would you do?
- License and registration please, ma'am.
- Why do you think I pulled you over?
- I don't know, tell me.
- When a police officer says something to you,
don't, don't, you're black.
You can't be looking at them saying,
oh, I don't know, why don't you tell me.
That right there is giving - Well I mean--
- them, to them, the license to pull you out of your car
and physically harm you,
because it will be done.
- Don't get upset, don't get sad,
say, why did you pull me over?
You don't have, I don't, just follow instructions
and stay calm.
- Okay.
- Do you think just being a police officer
and pulling you over, regardless of if you feel
you've done something or not,
they should get your respect?
- That's a tricky question.
- The answer is yes. - Yes.
- If you gotta go to your wallet to get your ID,
say, can I go reach in my back pocket
to get my ID out?
- You could do what I do and I show them my hands
so when they're walking up,
they see I don't have anything in my hands.
- I'm Ariel Sky Williams and I have nothing to harm you
or hurt you.
- And what's the next place you put your hands
when you're driving?
Or on the steering wheel, with your hands out.
- If at all possible, turn your phone on.
- On and call someone and put it on speaker.
- But whatever you're doing, I want you to say
what you're doing before you do it.
- You don't write any statements.
- Well you have to write a statement.
- You don't have to write anything,
you're a minor.
I'm responsible for you, no one can tell you anything else.
- If he tells you to be quiet, be quiet,
do everything that you can to get back to me.
I see it weighing on you
and I don't want it to weigh on you.
- I'm just worried about Donovan.
I'm worried about him now.
- [Man] Who are you guys talking about?
- Her, my nephew, and her cousin.
- I don't want him to be shot.
I don't want him to go to jail.
- [Man] You guys, if you could say anything to police,
what would you say?
- Learn about people.
learn about their problems.
- Take some diversity training.
I mean, it should be like,
at this point, like a monthly requirement.
- You know, there's really nothing at this point
that they could do that would make me feel any safer
with them without them just point blank
clearing them all out, and starting all over from scratch.
- So don't always assume that all of them are bad.
- Mm hmm, but always, but all you see on the news
and in newspapers and it keeps happening.
It's just in a different way.
It's like how people are like,
"You should forgive so and so"
but they keep doing it to me.
I forgave them but they keep doing it to me,
it gets harder and harder to forgive them.
- Wow.