Video shows that a Raleigh police officer brandished his gun before handcuffing a black man in his own North Raleigh home and forced him outside in his underwear earlier this month after the cops responded to an accidentally triggered house alarm.
Police have yet to issue an apology, and a spokeswoman declined to say whether the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the police department reviews the incident.
ABC 11 first reported this story. A video of the encounter, which has been shared by the website NowThis, has garnered more than a million views as of Wednesday morning.
“Black lives in Raleigh, really, they are criminalized,” community advocate Kerwin Pittman told the INDY. “He was criminalized automatically and thought to be the burglar of his own home when clearly he had no shirt on and no shoes.”
At about 12:30 p.m. on August 17, Kazeem Oyeneyin, a thirty-one-year-old concert promoter who goes by Tim Boss, was in bed after shutting off the alarm in his home that his friend had triggered while leaving, according to BET. A few minutes later, a Raleigh police officer with a gun drawn approached Oyeneyin’s open front door. Oyeneyin, who has a concealed carry permit, approached the door with his gun.
He told the officer he had a gun and immediately placed it on the ground when the officer told him to “drop the gun,” BET reported.
“Get down on your knees,” the officer can be heard telling Oyeneyin in the video taken from Oyenenin’s security camera.
“Why?” Oyeneyin responded.
“Turn around and face away from me!” the officer shouted.
Oyeneyin, apparently confused, complied with the officers request while repeatedly asking why. “I didn’t do nothing,” Oyeneyin said. “I’m not on drugs. You’ve got to call the supervisor.”
The video does not show the officer asking Oyeneyin for his name, his identification, or whether he lived at the home.
Instead, the officer pressed Oyeneyin against the wall and handcuffed him. Three more officers entered the home and took Oyeneyin outside, still unclothed.
Raleigh police detained Oyeneyin for seven minutes “while his identity was confirmed,” police told the INDY in a statement.
“While the subject indicated he lived at the residence, the officer had no way to safely confirm the validity of the statement or check the residence for additional persons until other officers arrived on scene,” police said in a statement. “The department has reached out to the resident for an interview and we are currently reviewing the incident.”
Pittman, who is the executive director of Recidivism Reduction Education Program Services, said Oyeneyin is doing OK following the incident but is skeptical about the police’s internal investigation.
“It’s just that he’s worried, and he has the right to be,” Pittman says. “We’re asking for a public apology as well.”
Pittman believes the officers involved should be placed on administrative leave while the investigation is completed.
“This was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life,” Oyeneyin told ABC 11.
Contact staff writer Leigh Tauss at ltauss@indyweek.com.
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