Stock photo of police officer with his gun drawn. (inhauscreative/Getty Images)
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“That officer came back and apologized again, but at the same time, the damage was done,” Roy Thorne, the prospective home buyer, told the TV station. “My son was a little disturbed. He hasn’t seen anything like that. He’s not going to forget this.”
The Wyoming Police Department, which did not immediately respond to VICE News’ request, told local media that officers were responding to a 911 call reporting a break-in from a concerned neighbor. The home had previously been the target of a burglary on July 24. In that case, a suspect had been arrested and charged with unlawful entry.
“The caller indicated that the previously arrested suspect had returned and again entered the house,” Department Capt. Timothy Pols said in a statement about the incident.
Though Pols denied that race had anything to do with how the officers handled the situation and that they were simply following department protocol, the two men on the receiving end of their mixup aren’t convinced.
Brown said he was taken aback by how quickly police officers decided to pull out their guns.
“I feel pretty anxious, or nervous or maybe even a little bit scared about what I do to protect myself,” Brown told WOOD-TV. “If I’m going to show a home and the authorities just get called on a whim like that, am I just automatically the criminal? Because that’s pretty much how we were treated in that situation.”
Thorne said that he and his son feared the worst when they first noticed the officers outside the home.
“Under the current climate of things, you just really don’t know what’s going to happen,” he explained in his interview with WOOD-TV.
This wouldn’t be the first time Black people looking at an empty home have been met by members of law enforcement. Last December, a Black real estate agent and photographer hired to take photos of an Arlington, Virginia, home were approached by police after white neighbors reported suspicious activity next door. The photographer, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer, recorded the encounter and shared it to Facebook.
In 2019, the city of Cincinnati awarded a Black realtor and his client $151,000 after a retired police officer called 911 and reported the two men “forced the front door open.” When police arrived, they ordered the two men out of the home at gunpoint and handcuffed both of them. Police let the two men go and apologized after the realtor explained why they were in the home.
“That officer came back and apologized again, but at the same time, the damage was done,” Roy Thorne, the prospective home buyer, told the TV station. “My son was a little disturbed. He hasn’t seen anything like that. He’s not going to forget this.”
The Wyoming Police Department, which did not immediately respond to VICE News’ request, told local media that officers were responding to a 911 call reporting a break-in from a concerned neighbor. The home had previously been the target of a burglary on July 24. In that case, a suspect had been arrested and charged with unlawful entry.
“The caller indicated that the previously arrested suspect had returned and again entered the house,” Department Capt. Timothy Pols said in a statement about the incident.
Though Pols denied that race had anything to do with how the officers handled the situation and that they were simply following department protocol, the two men on the receiving end of their mixup aren’t convinced.
Brown said he was taken aback by how quickly police officers decided to pull out their guns.
“I feel pretty anxious, or nervous or maybe even a little bit scared about what I do to protect myself,” Brown told WOOD-TV. “If I’m going to show a home and the authorities just get called on a whim like that, am I just automatically the criminal? Because that’s pretty much how we were treated in that situation.”
Thorne said that he and his son feared the worst when they first noticed the officers outside the home.
“Under the current climate of things, you just really don’t know what’s going to happen,” he explained in his interview with WOOD-TV.
This wouldn’t be the first time Black people looking at an empty home have been met by members of law enforcement. Last December, a Black real estate agent and photographer hired to take photos of an Arlington, Virginia, home were approached by police after white neighbors reported suspicious activity next door. The photographer, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer, recorded the encounter and shared it to Facebook.
In 2019, the city of Cincinnati awarded a Black realtor and his client $151,000 after a retired police officer called 911 and reported the two men “forced the front door open.” When police arrived, they ordered the two men out of the home at gunpoint and handcuffed both of them. Police let the two men go and apologized after the realtor explained why they were in the home.