An all too familiar confrontation with two “Karens” was captured on video after a Black woman was stopped by police for simply taking photos on a public street in Washington.
ShotbyBriah, an aspiring photographer, uploaded the clip to her TikTok on March 2, where it has already amassed more than 200,000 views. With Briah’s phone camera angled down toward the sidewalk, the video doesn’t depict the unhinged racist rant that you might expect. But it’s the type of encounter that is far more pernicious and pervasive.
After Briah was questioned by police for snapping photos on a residential street, she confronted the two white women standing nearby who she believed called the cops — and that’s where the video began.
Despite the absurdity of the situation, Briah approached the women politely and asked why they had “any issue to call the police.” The women, whose faces are not visible on camera, changed up their stories a few times, first admitting to calling the police and then blaming it on random strangers.
“Oh no, we were just wondering why people are taking pictures of our houses,” one replied, implying that they had indeed called the cops.
“I didn’t take pictures of your house,” Briah responded.
“Oh, well like, houses around,” became the new reason one woman shared. Then she condescendingly added “honestly” that her friend was buying a house for sale in the area, so she just “needed to stop” and check on the Black woman who had presumably photographed it.
Briah, however, stood her ground.
According to Briah’s account, when police arrived, they asked her several times if they could “help” her. On the audio, one of the women seemed surprised that a police officer would be carrying a gun, noting that “She’s hot,” slang for having a loaded weapon.
“I know,” responded Briah, “Cause she asked me if I needed help, and I’m just wondering, what she’s gonna help me with? The settings on my camera? Or, like, what kind of help could you offer me? And I didn’t ask for any help.”
Briah continued, “That’s what is perplexing because I didn’t say anything to you guys. It’s interesting they just so happened to touch me and ask if I needed help for the second and third time.”
The woman claimed they simply saw the officer drive by and someone else may have called the police despite Briah shared that she saw the police speak to the women.
@shotbybriah all in all, let’s stop wasting the police’s time 😂😂 it could be a real emergency #karensgoingwild #karensoftiktok #mindyourbusiness ♬ original sound – Shotbybriah🦋✨
In the end, the women denied calling the police, saying it must have been someone else in the neighborhood, but Briah was quick to point out the gaslighting on her TikTok video as “Lie #1,” writing, “The way they lie so fast is insane, anyways, I got my pictures.”
Commenters overwhelmingly agreed — and some offered important advice: “Next time show their face 🙄 …because all it takes is the wrong cop at the wrong call & your life could’ve been in danger.. weaponizing the police as usual.”
“Thinking the sight of a black person requires the police. Tiring behavior,” lamented another.
“They literally lie through their teeth and think people can’t catch on,” quipped one of many commenters who watched the video and did not buy their stories. Briah responded, “Like who are you smarter than😂”
In the end, Briah kept a positive attitude and captioned the video with a PSA for all Karens: “All in all, let’s stop wasting the police’s time 😂😂 it could be a real emergency.”
