you look like you're having fun everything okay okay someone said that you were dancing in the street and they were concerned for your safety do you feel like hurting yourself today have a good day have a good day gentlemen at this point you're detained understand don't reach for anything you're dancing in the streets technically what I'm dancing in the street yes hold on woman you're not free to go you're not free to go you're not what are you touching stand over here put your hands off of me stand over here officer let's stop sir just go to the ground shortly before 9 A.M on May 23 2020 a woman called the non-emergency police line in Alameda California to report that an older black man was behaving erratically in the bike lane she was concerned that he might be intoxicated or mentally ill noting quote obviously something is very wrong two responding Alameda officers paused to observe the man in the bike lane waving his arms in the air when they approached him they said hey man you look like you're having fun is everything okay someone said that you're dancing in the street they're concerned for your safety the man responded that he was exercising the officer continued with more questions but when the dancer Mali Watkins heard do you feel like hurting yourself today he attempted to leave let's watch what happens thank you thank you good morning dude hey man you look like you're having fun everything okay uh okay someone said that you were dancing in the street and they were concerned for your safety industry it looked like you were dancing I was watching for a little bit it's like Jazzercise type of thing is there any particular reason you're not doing it on the sidewalk about a job sometimes a move or faster than practicing my artwork and standing behind me like this that's just how we stand okay you can stand right there that's fine yeah wherever it's comfortable with you how comfortable is we continuing though I just had a couple more questions man and then we'll be on our way just want to make sure where you're at do you feel like hurting yourself today have a good day have a good day gentlemen we just required no listen at this point you're detained understand don't reach for anything my keys right my car may I agree no no for what listen I'm trying to be quiet you're dancing in the streets technically what I'm dancing in the street yes hold on woman you're not free to go you're not free to go you're not what are you touching stand over here put your hands off of me stand over here officer talk to them I'm sorry I understand take your hands off of me you don't get to know right now you're in the streets so technically so I was on the side excuse me let my hands go Miss we understand me Me Go sir let me go no no no no no no no do you have ID on you me go why are you touching me right now why are you touching me stop asking questions I missed some questions no no no no no no no no no no I was walking down the street put them over in the street if you resist he will be put under arrest if you resist our intrusion harassment and violence you will be put under arrest when taking a stand against law enforcement crime is seen as criminal activity itself you know you're being ruled by criminals the man wasn't hurting anybody he wasn't threatening anybody and he wasn't stealing anybody's stuff the cop even said hey man it looks like you're having fun is everything okay if a person is having fun why wouldn't everything be okay this was clearly a non-consensual stop when the man who had committed no crime wanted to leave the uniformed oppressor's presence the tyrants just couldn't let him walk away stop resisting yeah ma'am could you let these people know that I'm please record please record please record I do this every morning um excuse me your hands off of me stop I do listen 31 we'll take a cutter unit what is your name ma'am excuse me sir stop resisting sir I'm not listen listen we're not trying to fight you listen you have violated me I'm calling my attorney's blood I'm fantastic good we'll talk to him let me go we're good let me go just keep control of him man don't dump him just keep them in trouble I'm good thank you ma'am every morning I live so if you wanted to know listen this lady is telling you dude I told you get your hands off yes I stop listen you are not stronger than me so please let me go listen I don't want to miss you you cannot you cannot you cannot listen you cannot I don't listen you can't brother you can if you're not free to dance in America you're not free now we have the testimony of a female bystander that he does this exercise every day but the cops continue to restrain him Watkins of course resisted and soon three more cops arrived to help restrain him the Alameda Police Department reviewed the episode and recorded that Watkins was detained quote for not following police instructions another cop arrives on the scene where the woman tries to tell him that there's no reason for them to detain Watkins hmm [Music] 619 you don't know the call ma'am so we want you to give us a second please okay [Music] okay we had a call for service on him we had a call for service on him he's obviously not going along with the officers okay give him one second okay oh God 611 all right officer I have my keys relax sir if you we will get you up in a second I'm Sergeant Connor here with Delaney Police Department we'll get you up in a second sergeant Coney please get your dog off of my back okay there's on your side please get your dogs off of my butt we're gonna have stay in here get your dogs I can stand up myself okay we're gonna roll you and help you up okay that's the way it works okay okay all right come on can you can I help you out here we go check a leg man I can get it by myself let us help you let me go okay you're under arrest right now you're not gonna let you up okay so why are you squeezing on my neck we're trying to help you up there we go huh saw it is your name sir Sergeant Colony I'm the Superman okay supervisor okay could you let your dog um excuse me I'll have witnesses all up and down block I live across the street okay I was minding my business well in case you didn't know Mr Watkins as long as there are cops on patrol you are not free to mind your own business and anytime they interrupt your business making it their business you must answer their questions or else if you hurt their feelings by not engaging in a non-consensual interaction you will be taken to the ground any questions we'll talk to you in a second about them okay okay let's come over here and we'll talk about it all right here it is all right okay I am talking for everyone here stop pushing me I won't sit down no one's pushing you have a seat please why are you touching my arm because I'm just I won't sit down that's you I don't need you to hold me up have a seat please I'm sick okay we're asking you politely please and I'll get your side of the story on everything okay this guy okay sit back for me please I need to get your legs in I'm asking nicely okay all right we're being cordial right now right no it's not this is not cool okay you and I are um officer there is Witnesses all around here you know we'll talk officer I'm minding my business walking down the street dancing I don't jog I am a martial artist choreographer girl dancer and I was dancing down the [ __ ] Street mind of my business as I do every morning I do this three four times a day okay listen I am listening to you I hear you okay for the moment I gotta get this sorted out sir sir we're gonna talk to everybody else but I'm asking you to put your feet in please I'm asking you to put your feet in please now it really is important to note that this guy's physical exercise was a little bit out of the ordinary so checking up on him in and of itself wasn't the bad part of this encounter Watkins does admit that he has autism and has faced some mental challenges in the past including being the victim of police brutality with black lives matter fervor surging across the country at this particular time because two days later George Floyd died in police custody virtually no one paused to consider that Watkins behavior that morning even if typical for him could be seen as abnormal and concerning but again if you're not free to do abnormal concerning stuff as long as you're not hurting people getting in their way jamming up traffic attacking bikers in the bike lane or stealing people's property seriously what is the big deal and I don't shock this encounter up racism this is just plain old bad policing or is it good policing because this might be how they're trained and I'm talking about Good from the perspective of the cops the city ended up hiring a Pasadena Law Firm to conduct an independent investigation of the Watkins arrest and as of yet they have not released the results at least not that I've seen with no grounds for termination the Alameda Police Department did not find any wrongdoing and did not fire any of the officers involved Watkins ended up suing the city but gained little else from his arrest notoriety what do you guys think about this leave your thoughts in the comments below if you haven't done so already subscribe to this channel hit the Bell notification icon give it a thumbs up share it with everybody you know and don't forget to subscribe to my email list through my website if you want to grab a hard-hitting conversation starting design from the store you can put on a shirt hoodie mug cell phone case whatever you want there's over 100 110 Unique Designs to choose from I'll see you in the next video [Music]