You Won’t Believe Why This…Oh Wait, He’s Black. You’ll Totally Believe It.

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  • It’s as if a black man can’t walk down the street drinking a cappuccino anymore!

    Wait, that’s how it’s always been.

    29-year-old Cincinnati resident Charles Harrel was enjoying his morning coffee when he allegedly jaywalked (though he said he crossed with the light). Officer Baron Osterman attempted to pull him over on his bicycle, which is when Harrel started filming.

    When Harrel reached for his ID, Osterman reacted excitedly, telling Harrel that he didn’t authorize him to reach for anything. The incident escalated from there, with Harrel being thrown to a wall with his hands behind his back, all while his phone, which had fallen to the ground, continued to record.

    According to The Free Thought Project, Harrel was “charged with a pedestrian violation, possession of less than 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of marijuana and resisting arrest.”

    What might be most striking about this story is that Officer Osterman was involved in the beating and death of a black man in 2003. That story received national news attention after the coroner labeled the death of Nathaniel Jones a homicide. According to The New York Times, the Cincinnati Police Department defended the officers’ actions, and encouraged concerned citizens to watch the full video to judge for themselves if they acted reasonably.

    That video is below:

  • Neither Harrel nor the CPD have publicly commented on his arrest.

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