*RVA Mag has not been able to independently verify this story.
A thread by Twitter user Hermione Danger detailing a harrowing encounter between her boyfriend and police in Virginia Beach has gone viral. According to the conversation, her boyfriend was pulled over by Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) after leaving an area 7-11 for giving a homeless man change.
The account goes on to detail a harrowing experience that is all too familiar between black people and the police – one in which the encounter is immediately criminalized. Data compiled by the Open Policing Project at Stanford University has found that “in nearly every jurisdiction, stopped black and Hispanic drivers are searched more often than whites.” The encounter, as described, was no different.
The thread goes on to detail how the man was pulled out of his car and told to place his hands on his head, while the officer proceeded to draw his service weapon and had it pointed at his back.
