Democratic Party of Arkansas Calls Out Racial Targeting & Harassment
Check out this excerpt from the Arkansas Times account of the incident >>>
“Ryan had walked Vivian to her car about four doors down from my house, and they lingered a moment in front of her car finishing their conversation. The car was parked in front of a neighbor’s house, and those neighbors began harassing Vivian and Ryan, telling them they didn’t belong there and yelling at them to leave. (If you don’t know or haven’t yet guessed, Ryan and Vivian are black, and our aggressive neighbors are white.) Two men exited the house and entered the yard, approaching them threateningly. Ryan and Vivian both called the police.
Meanwhile, an older white woman from the other side of the street came outside and joined in yelling at Ryan and Vivian. She told them to leave and to “drop dead.” Then the sound of a gunshot rang out from the woman’s house. Ryan and Vivian each called 911 again to report the gunfire.
I didn’t know yet about the neighbors and the arguing and the gunshot. I came outside of my house after getting Vivian’s text to find police officers approaching with their guns pointed at Vivian and Ryan. I ran into the street, yelling to the police officers that they had their guns drawn on my friends. They slowed to tell me they had a call about two people arguing in the street and gunfire. I reiterated that they were my friends, that one was a state legislator and the other was a candidate for office, that I KNEW they didn’t have a gun and weren’t arguing, and that the officers didn’t need to aim weapons at them.
Then, they turned their weapons on me and ordered me back to my house…”