Faith Ekakitie, a rising senior and defensive end at the University of Iowa, was held at gunpoint by police last Wednesday when they mistook him for a bank robber. Afterwards, he thanked the police and blamed the media for its sensationalist treatment of similar situations.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Ekakitie said:
Today was the first time that I’ve ever truly feared for my life, and I have the media to thank for that.
Today I was surrounded and searched by approximately five Iowa City Police Officers. My pockets were checked, my backpack was opened up and searched carefully, and I was asked to lift up my shirt while they searched my waistband. Not once did they identify themselves to me as Iowa City Police officers, but with four gun barrels staring me in the face, I wouldn’t dare question the authority of the men and woman in front of me. This is what happened from my point of view.
Next, Ekakitie shared the same story, but from the cops' perspectives:
From the police officers point of view, all they knew was that a bank had just been robbed less than ten minutes ago. The suspect was a large black male, wearing all black, with something on top of his head and the suspect is armed. As they drive past an Iowa City park that was less than 3 minutes away from the bank that was just robbed, they notice a large black man, dressed in all black, with black goggles on his head. They quickly move to action and identify themselves as the Iowa City police and ask me to turn around and place my hands up. I do not comply, they ask again, and again no response from me. So they all draw their guns and begin to slowly approach the suspect.
Iowa City police sergeant Jorey Bailey confirmed these details with the Des Moines Register Sunday, saying, "It's reasonable given the circumstances that weapons would have still been drawn, given the fact that this person matched the description of an armed bank robber. He was in the area of the bank within two minutes."
Instead of criticizing the police for pointing their weapons at him, Ekakitie called out the media for creating the stigma of fear and anxiety surrounding law enforcement:
In this situation, what the media would fail to let people know is that the suspect had his headphones in the entire time the Police Officers approached him initially. The suspect had actually just pulled up to the park because he was playing a newly popular Game called Pokémon Go. The suspect didn’t realize that there were four cops behind him because his music was blaring in his ears. The suspect had reached into his pockets, for something which was his phone, but for all the cops could have known, he was reaching for a gun. The suspect could very well become another statistic on this day. I am not one to usually rant on Facebook or anywhere else, but with all of the crazy things that have been happening in our world these past couple of weeks it is hard to stay silent. I am thankful to be alive, and I do now realize, that it very well could have been me, a friend of mine, my brother, your cousin, your nephew etc. Misunderstandings happen all the time and just like that things can go south very quickly. It is extremely sad that our society has brainwashed us all to the point where we can’t feel safe being approached by the police officers in our respective communities. Not all police officers are out to get you, but at the same time, not all people who fit a criminal profile are criminals.
Ekakitie concluded his letter with this:
So with that, I would like the thank the Iowa City Police department for handling a sensitive situation very professionally. I would also urge people to be more aware of their surroundings because clearly I wasn’t. Lastly, I would urge us all to at least to attempt to unlearn some of the prejudices that we have learned about each other and now plague our minds and our society. I am convinced that in the same way that we learned these prejudices, we can also unlearn them.
Ekakitie's story should serve as an example of how both police and citizens should conduct themselves in tense situations such as this. The cops must show extreme restraint in firing their weapons, and citizens must show respect when approached by the cops. No one can blame Ekakitie for fearing for his life when he saw guns pointed at him, but neither should anyone blame the officers, who did everything according to procedure.
Hopefully this account of an uneasy encounter between cops and a young black man encourages clearer and more peaceful dialogue between law enforcement and the black community moving foward, as opposed to more scenes like the recent shootings in Baton Rouge, Dallas and several other cities.