https://www.facebook.com/loladeskentele/videos/10156361381958832/
A frustrated Black Yale University student who had the cops called on her for sleeping in a common room refused to back down as officers repeatedly pressed her about “where she belonged.”
In a video recorded via Facebook Live, student Lolade Siyonbola stands her ground during incessant questioning by police after one of her neighbors called to report her sleeping in a common area of their apartment building. She accused the same woman of calling the cops on her friend three months ago because “he was in the stairwell and he was Black.”
One of the officers asks to see Siyonbola’s ID, to which she refuses and demands to know why.
“This is (inaudible) building and we need to make sure you belong here,” a female officer responds, after which the Ivy League student offers to unlock her apartment door to prove that she lives there. This was little consolation to the cops, however, who repeatedly asked her show them some ID.
“Why?! You just said that if I proved that I lived here, you would leave,” Siyonbola says. “I just opened the door to my apartment … I wanna think about whether I wanna show [my ID] to you or not because I really don’t think there’s justification for you even being in the building.”
She eventually, though reluctantly, hands her ID to police and questions whether the white woman who called them was also forced to surrender her ID. A male officer assures that the cop who was questioning the neighbor had taken care of that.
“She called us saying there was somebody here that wasn’t supposed to be,” the cop explains. “I don’t know anybody from anybody, so I’m here to just make sure you’re supposed to be here and she’s supposed to be here. Then we’ll get out of your hair.”
Several minutes later, a Black officer, who identifies himself as a supervisor, approaches Siyonbola and tries to explain what’s all going on. By this time, her ID still hadn’t been returned by police and she was still being questioned in the stairwell.
“It’s going to be okay,” the Black officer says, to which Siyonbola responds, “Oh, I know it’s okay. I know I’m not in trouble; my ancestors built this university … I am not going to be harassed. I have a paper to do.
The officer insists she’s not being “harassed” and that he and his officers were working to “get to the bottom” of the situation.
Watch more of the video above.
