Viral Video Shows Another Side of Interacting With Police Officers
Comes just days after a fatal police shooting happened after a traffic stop.
— -- A new video relating to a traffic stop in South Carolina is creating buzz online because of the driver's points about how to interact with police officers.
Will Stack, a 22-year-old identified by local media as a National Guardsman, posted a video of himself to Facebook explaining an interaction he had with a police officer.
Stack, who is African American, calls on people of all races to interact civilly with police officers.
The video was posted just four days after an African American man was shot and killed by a white police officer who pulled him over for a broken tail light in a town about a two-hour drive away from where Stack was pulled over.
"People need to understand not all officers are crooked, not all officers are racist, bad people, not all people who get shot and Tased or arrested by officers are innocent victims," Stack says in the video, recorded inside his car. "Just because you're black doesn't mean you're a victim. Just because you're white doesn't mean you're racist. Just because you're a cop doesn't mean you're a bad person.
"This world really needs to stop putting labels on people and things and see them as who they are: people doing jobs, doing things. Ignorance has no color. God doesn't see color. Why should we?" he said.
Facebook users are responding, with more than 32,200 people liking the video and more than 95,300 sharing it on Facebook in less than a week. In all, it has been viewed more than 2.5 million times.
The traffic stop Stack referred to took place the day after the shooting in North Charleston, South Carolina, where Officer Michael Slager fatally shot Walter Scott. Witness video of the shooting was released the day before Stack posted his video to Facebook.
Stack's video begins with him explaining how he was pulled over by a white police officer after Stack drove in the median lane, and explaining what steps he took to attempt to avoid confrontation -- including speaking politely, keeping his hands on the steering wheel, handing over his license and turning down his radio.
"I was in the wrong," Stack said. "I didn't realize it. I just did it out of habit. He gave me a warning, and I was on my way."
Stack did not immediately return phone calls seeking additional comment.
The Lexington, South Carolina, officer, Daniel Smith, told local station WIS that Stack was "nothing but polite" and that the international reaction "absolutely blows my mind."
Lt. Matt Davis, the spokesman for the Lexington Police Department, said that their chief of police "expects nothing less [of his force's conduct] and he expects all of his officers to behave that way."
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