An officer from the England Police Department in Arkansas was recently fired after telling two Black men they “don’t belong” in the small town.
Demarcus Branch and his cousin Shannon Scribner were working in their old neighborhood and filming a music video in July. Both men noticed a police officer was following their every step.
“With all the racial discrimination that’s going on across the world, will I be another victim? Will I be a statistic,” Branch stated to WFAA.
The two men continued shooting the video until they witnessed Officer Mike Moore slow down and park a few feet away from where the group of men was working. The officer allegedly stayed at the second location of the filming until the men packed up and left. Branch and Scribner felt extremely uncomfortable and headed to their old stomping grounds.
As the two men arrived to their third filming destination, Officer Moore pulled up right behind them.
“I was wondering, ‘Why is he doing this,” Branch pondered. “We’re in small England. Everybody knows everybody… He slowed down again just to see what we were doing.”
In the video uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday, Branch and Scribner respectfully approached Moore to let the officer know they were working.
The two cousins let the cop know their uncle is an England officer and they were filming a video. Branch also confronted Moore and asked why he was following them “everywhere.”
The cop replied back, “You know why? Because you don’t belong in my city.”
Branch tried to explain to the police officer they were from England, but Moore interrupted them.
“But you understand, I know who my people are, right, who belongs here and who doesn’t? We’ve got gang wars going on, we’ve got all kinds of stuff. I come from the big city where this stuff is small, okay? So, that’s cool. Do your thing,” the officer said.
Moore then took his K-9 out his patrol car for a few minutes before putting it back in.
The two young men informed their uncle Kevin Scribner of the incident and he advised them to contact Chief Powell.
However, Powell refused to go on camera, but she did announce in a press release on Wednesday that Moore was fired from the police department.
“Personally, I feel like the Chief should be held accountable as well for allowing him to even continue to work as long as he’s worked after showing of the video,” said Branch.