A video of a white man who charged at and aggressively confronted an officer before being allowed to walk away is making the rounds online and causing some to wonder if white privilege was at work during the encounter.
According to NBC San Diego, the encounter happened on Dec. 7.
The video, initially posted on the Connect San Diego Instagram page, shows a police officer pointing a Taser at a white man and commanding him to step back.
When the white man shouts, “Do it!” and starts approaching the officer, the officer backs away before firing off his Taser. It hits the man, who cries out but remains standing.
That’s when the man charges at the officer, yelling incoherently, and chases the officer away.
The officer pulls out his baton in response, and the man continues to yell, “Do it!” at the officer, appearing to egg him on to use force against him. The officer backs away, appearing afraid the man might become violent, then whips the man with his baton twice before reholstering it.
The man just continues approaching the officer, who continues backing away and telling the man to “step back.”
Finally, the man calmly walks away from the encounter, enters his truck, then speeds off. The officer tries to tell the man to “get back” in an attempt to compel him not to leave the scene, but the man doesn’t comply with his orders. After the man drives off, the officer gets into his police vehicle and follows after him.
NBC San Diego reported that several people called police to report that the man, identified as 47-year-old William Williams. Those 911 callers said Williams was being combative and disruptive. He also reportedly threatened someone with a screwdriver.
When the first officer arrived, Williams “aggressively confronted” him, a police spokesperson said.
“Additional officers were urgently requested,” San Diego police spokesman Darius Jamsetjee said. “The officer initially attempted to subdue the suspect using a [stun gun], which proved ineffective. After maintaining a safe distance, the officer also employed an expandable baton, which also had no effect.”
After Williams sped off, his truck crashed before he purposely reversed it and rammed it into a police car. Police were forced to set down a tire-flattening spike strip to deflate his tires and disable his vehicle.
Even though the chase ended at that point, Williams was still showing aggressive behavior. Police deployed a service dog, which didn’t subdue him. It wasn’t until he was hit with more stun gun shocks that police could finally apprehend him.
What’s riling many people who saw the video was the fact that police decided not to use excessive or brutal force on a man showing combative behavior when that treatment isn’t always employed in police encounters with Black people. Many are now questioning if the encounter would have gone down the same way had Williams been a Black man.
“It’s clear this white man is having some sort of episode. He’s not well we can all see that from the video. What is beautiful is he’s given the grace of living. Not once did the office think to shoot him. I wish this was the norm for people that look like me,” one person commented on Instagram.
“Exactly! Not only was the cop scared of him he drove off safely! No shots fired, no choke hold no knees on the neck or nothing,” another Instagram user pointed out.
“I applaud this police officer for leaning into his training, keeping himself safe while using the appropriate and reasonable responses and techniques to address the volatile situation and threat to him and perhaps others,” another person remarked. “My issue isn’t with how this police officer responded in this case. My issue is – why don’t Black people receive similar reasonable and humane treatment?! Similar regard for preserving our lives?! Similar understanding and benefit of the doubt?! Why are Black people still excluded from equal protection under the law?!”
Williams was taken to the hospital to be evaluated for the shocks and the bite he sustained from the police dog. He’s expected to be charged with suspicion of various criminal charges, including evading police, brandishing a weapon, issuing criminal threats, driving while intoxicated, illegal possession of a controlled substance, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, and hit-and-run.
No one else was injured during the incident.
