Livestream Shows Former Obama Aide Get Cops Called On Him For Moving Into His Own Home
Although years ago he was served his nation and former President Obama while working at the White House, his Black skin was still recently deemed enough of a threat for his white neighbors to call the police when he moved into his New York City apartment.
Bronx native Darren Martin works long and frequent hours, so he only had time to move into his new Upper West Side apartment late at night.
While he was moving in his things last Friday, Martin was visited not by friends who wanted to help, but by the NYPD, reported PIX 11.
“I’m in my apartment but you know – you can’t go nowhere without the cops following me,” Martin said in a livestreamed video posted to his Twitter.
According to the police, someone called 911 to report a “burglary in progress,” bur the suspect in question was Martin.
“Somebody called the cops on me in my own building,” he said in the video. “About how many are ya’ll? About six of ya’ll showed up, rolled up on me.”
In the live video, one of the officers turns up his 2-way radio to reveal the dispatcher calling about the “break in.”
“Somebody was trying to break in the door” with a “possible weapon,” said the dispatcher, who also described the weapon as a “large tool.”
An investigation later determined there was nothing criminal about Martin’s activity.
In a detailed Twitter thread, Martin described how he felt knowing his new neighbors viewed his presence as a threat
"[The] lingering pit in my stomach came from how my my neighbors viewed me. How they officially welcomed me into the building. Call the police on this Black man who DEFINITELY doesn't live here. The man who worked for President Obama and now serves his fellow New Yorkers," Martin tweeted.
