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SO I COUNTED OUT LOUD TO THIS CAC I HAD 19...he tried to make a joke and i was like yeah yeah n put my speakers back in
Video of Edina police officer confronting a black man goes viral
A man stopped for walking in the street demanded to know why the officer detained him.
A seven-minute video of a confrontation between a white Edina police officer and a black man who said he was merely walking on the edge of the road is sparking outrage across the country.
Edina police maintained that the man was defiant and didn’t stop Wednesday when asked to do so by an officer.
The man, Larnie B. Thomas, 34, of Minneapolis, was later cited for disorderly conduct and pedestrian failure to obey a traffic signal, and was released.
Janet Rowles, who filmed the confrontation, said she drove by Thomas in the 5900 block of Xerxes Avenue S. as he was walking on the white line dividing the road’s shoulder from the traffic lane. She assumed he was detouring around the sidewalk, which was under construction.
Rowles stopped her vehicle, she said, to film the plainclothes police officer, Lt. T.F. Olson, as he grabbed the back of Thomas’ jacket.
“I’m not against the police,” she said in an interview Friday. “I was against what he was doing.”
In the video, the situation escalates quickly as Thomas becomes agitated and swears at Olson, questioning why he’s being detained.
Olson, who speaks calmly, directs Thomas to his unmarked squad, asking him to put his hands on the car. Thomas slams his backpack down and asks whether he’s going to be taken to jail.
Rowles, who works as a mediator, said she stopped to watch and film because she “was watching something that I didn’t think was very fair.”
Rowles said Thomas wasn’t upset with the officer at first but grew more agitated during the incident.
“I don’t fault him for being agitated,” she said. “I’m a mediator, and I see people all the time be upset in ways that aren’t very pretty. We’re human. It’s the job of the police to deal with it in a good manner, not the [one] who is being falsely accused.”
In the video, when Thomas asks Olson why he’s being stopped, the officer tells him it’s because “you’re walking down the middle of the street.”
As the confrontation continues, Thomas apparently wiggles out of his jacket and then his shirt. He is bare-chested when another unmarked squad arrives and Olson handcuffs Thomas’ hands behind his back. Thomas is then put in the squad car.
The YouTube video, which Rowles posted on Wednesday, has been viewed and shared tens of thousands of times. It’s accompanied by hundreds of comments from people writing that they were outraged over a black man being arrested after walking in the street because construction had closed the nearby sidewalk.
Edina police released this statement on the city’s website:
“Recognizing the risk to the safety of the public, the officer pulled in behind the man with his lights and an audible signal in an attempt to advise him to get out of the roadway. The man, who was wearing headphones, turned and looked at the officer and continued walking in the lane of traffic,” the statement reads.
“The officer smelled alcohol on the man’s breath during the incident. A breathalyzer later confirmed the presence of alcohol,” the statement continues.
Acknowledging that it’s within a bystander’s right to film officer interactions, the police statement cautioned that citizens should not interact with an officer or a suspect.
The statement drew hundreds of angry comments from people, many of them saying that the officer could have handled the situation better and avoided the confrontation.
Rowles said she felt it was her responsibility to advocate for Thomas and film the encounter, believing that it could have gotten worse if she hadn’t. He didn’t appear to be doing anything wrong while walking along the road, she said.
“I worry about these relationships that [the police are] destroying,” Rowles said. “It calls for extra patience.”
Response from Edina Police Department
“A video of one of our police officers is circulating online. This incident started several minutes prior to the recording. During that time, our police officer observed a man walking southbound on Xerxes Avenue at West 60th Street in the southbound lane of traffic, though there is a sidewalk on the east side and a sidewalk under construction and a paved shoulder on the west side of the street. Recognizing the risk to the safety of the public, the officer pulled in behind the man with his lights and an audible signal in an attempt to advise him to get out of the roadway. The man, who was wearing headphones, turned and looked at the officer and continued walking in the lane of traffic. The officer then drove in front of the man by approximately 15 feet, to block him from continuing in the southbound lane of traffic. The man deliberately went around the squad car and continued to walk in the lane of traffic. The officer got out of his vehicle and started to follow the man, asking him to get out of the lane of traffic and stop. The man did not stop and was defiant. It was after that point that the recording began. The officer smelled alcohol on the man’s breath during the incident. A breathalyzer later confirmed the presence of alcohol.
"As a bystander, it’s your right to film officer interactions. However, it’s important to note that attempting to interact with the officer and/or suspect creates a greater risk to the safety of the officer, suspect and bystanders. Public safety is our first priority. It makes it more difficult for officers to deal with the situation on hand when they are at the same time dealing with the distractions of bystanders. For more information about this incident, contact the Edina Police Department at 952-826-1610.”
Video shared by social influencers
Minneapolis rapper and activist Toki Wright shared the video on Facebook, with the hashtag #MinnesotaNice: “Here's what happened in Edina, Minnesota yesterday when a Black man decided to walk around construction that was blocking the sidewalk. This is also a perfect example of how people get murdered.”
Wright’s post was shared by Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds, who called it a “prime example of the urgent need for police reform in our state and in this nation.”
Full narrative of police report
On 10/12/16 at approximately 11:46, I, Lieutenant T. Olson was on duty, in the City of Edina, dressed in plain clothes and driving an unmarked police vehicle. I was driving northbound on Xerxes at west 60th Street. I observed ahead of me, a man, later identified as the defendant, Larnie Thomas, walking southbound on Xerxes in the southbound lane of traffic. I observed there was a new sidewalk on the west side of Xerxes which, with the exception of cut-ins for private property connections to the trunk sidewalk, appeared to be completed. I also observed a paved shoulder, approximately 8-feet wide, on the west side of Xerxes and a sidewalk on the east side of the street. As I drove north in the direction of Thomas, I observed he continued to walk southbound, approximately 1/3 the way into the southbound traffic lane of Xerxes. I observed Thomas`s actions were obstructing southbound vehicular traffic as vehicles slowed to a walking pace while stacking up behind Thomas.
As I neared Thomas, I observed he was wearing headphones over his ears. I watched as several vehicles crossed over the double painted yellow line, into the northbound lane in attempt to drive around Thomas. I observed Thomas look in the direction of the vehicles as they passed him. I observed Thomas move slightly to the right of the traffic lane, then move back to his position in the roadway. Based on these observations, it appeared likely Thomas should have been aware he was in the roadway and causing an obstruction to vehicular traffic. I am aware that Xerxes Ave is a highly traveled feeder street. I believed Thomas was creating a risk to his safety and the others and it was prudent to advise him to get out of the road. I drove north, past Thomas a distance, activated my emergency lights and conducted a U-turn. As I neared Thomas, aware he was wearing headphones,
I tapped my squad siren. Thomas didn't respond. As I approached closer I again tapped my siren. This time Thomas turned, looked at me, turned back around and continued walking south in the lane of traffic. I again tapped my siren, to which Thomas did not turn, but continued his walk.
I drove around Thomas to a position approximately 15 feet in front of him. I turned and canted my squad to the right in a manner to block Thomas from continuing south in the traffic lane. Thomas walked up to and around the passenger`s side of my squad. Thomas looked at me as he passed, walked south around my squad, back onto the lane of traffic and continued south.
I exited my squad and identified myself as a police officer. I instructed Thomas to get out of the traffic lane. Thomas did not comply and began shouting at me. I again identified myself as a police officer, this time drawing attention to my police badge carried on my left side belt. I provided Thomas multiple instructions including phrases to the effect of; get out of the road, stop and return to me. Thomas disregarded my commands, while continuing to walk southbound, into the traffic lane and around a parked vehicle. I noted Thomas's response to the event to be unusual and extremely confrontational given the simple and basic request for compliance. I followed after Thomas and continued to instruct him to stop. Thomas did not comply with any of my directives.
I reached Thomas, who had now walked approximately 60` from my original stop location, and grasped his shoulder. As I made contact with Thomas, I could smell the odor of a consumed alcoholic beverage. Thomas began to struggle against my grasp, shout and use profane language. I instructed Thomas to return to my squad.
With my grasp on Thomas's shoulder, I escorted him back to my squad. Thomas continued to struggle and attempt to break free of my grasp. As I reached my squad, Thomas slammed a back-pack he was carrying onto the hood of the squad. I radioed dispatch for assistance.
While waiting for back-up to arrive, Thomas continued struggle against my grasp and began to use very loud and profane language (Fuck, Bull Shit and Shit). I observed several people begin to gather in observation of the event. I observed individuals who appeared to have emerged from their street front homes and an individual who appeared to be filming the event. Thomas`s behavior became more volatile as he spun away from me, removed his shirt and appeared to take an offense stance towards me. I did not attempt to physically engage Thomas further.
Officer Boerger arrived on scene. Thomas was advised he was under arrest and handcuffed without further incident. Officer Piper arrived and Thomas was placed in the rear of her squad. Officer Boerger administered an alcohol breath test (PBT #8) and advised me Thomas`s results were .017.
Edina mayor says city 'will learn from' black man's arrest video
Monday, October 17, 2016 by Mike Mullen in News
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On Friday, as the internet reacted to the video of Thomas getting arrested for walking in the street, the city rushed out a statement explaining what happened around noon last Wednesday. In short: What happened was Thomas' fault, and the woman who filmed the incident was putting everyone there at risk.
That woman, Janet Rowles, who is white, says explicitly she pulled over to film Thomas' interaction with a cop because she worried the 34-year-old Minneapolis man might be mistreated "because of his ethnicity."
Rowles says she and other motorists were able to easily drive past Thomas, who had been forced into the roadway due to a sidewalk closure, because he was "literally walking down the white line that marks the shoulder."
She tells a different story than the one the officer (and the city) had. In its statement, Edina said Thomas was walking "in the southbound lane of traffic," and the cop needed to pull over and speak to him due to "the risk to the safety of the public."
Thomas was cited with disorderly conduct and failure to obey a traffic signal as a pedestrian, a crime that doesn't seem to be much of an issue for all the white folks jaywalking carefree in Minneapolis and St. Paul every day.
On Sunday, Edina Mayor Jim Hovland struck a different tone in a statement addressing Thomas' arrest. Hovland says the cop was "following established protocol" in confronting Thomas. But that might not be a good thing.
"[Edina] will review that protocol and determine how to better approach this type of incident with greater sensitivity in the future," Hovland said.
The mayor says any such changes would be made with city officials working in concert with "other organizations." The Minneapolis NAACP was quick to seize on the arrest of Thomas, and the immediate defensive position the city took, as evidence of a systemic problem there. The activist group called for a six-point list of demands to be met, including the suspension without pay of officer Tim Olson, pending results of an independent investigation, and a formal apology from Mayor Hovland and Police Chief Dave Nelson to Thomas.
Hovland's statement stopped short of apologizing, though the mayor observed that the pedestrian citations Thomas faced will be dropped. According to Hovland, Thomas was taken not to jail after the video ended, but was instead "driven to a nearby shopping mall at his request and released."
