Former Saturday Night Live star Jay Pharoah has said ‘I could have been George Floyd’ after a police officer allegedly knelt on his neck.
The 32-year-old produced a short film called #BlackFilter for social media, in which he shared security footage of police drawing guns on him back in February in Los Angeles.
The video started with footage of Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech, before Pharoah – real name Jared Farrow – revealed that a week before the death of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed when he was out jogging, he was stopped by police when out exercising in LA.
He said: ‘I see an officer to the left of me, and I’m not thinking anything of it because I’m a law abiding citizen. And also keep in mind, I’ve got my Bose headphones on, noise cancelling, so I’m in my zone right now.
‘The officer, I see him coming with guns blazing, I see him say get on the ground, put your hands up like you’re an airplane.’
Pharoah assumed the officer was making a mistake, but realised that they were coming for him when three others officers came with their guns drawn.
The impressionist continued: ‘They put me in cuffs. The officer took his knee, put it on my neck. It wasn’t as long as George Floyd, but I know how that feels.’
Pharoah was told that he ‘fit the description of a black man in this area with grey sweatpants on and a grey shirt’, with the SNL star telling them to Google his name to see ‘they made a big mistake’.
The police soon apologised and let Pharoah go.
The star said that he had never been in cuffs before, and had been sheltered by his parents while growing up so he had not experienced ‘first hand racism’ until this year in America.
‘Black lives matter, my life matters. I’m still here to tell my story but I could have easily been an Ahmaud Arbery or a George Floyd,’ Pharoah said, before encouraging black men to educate themselves on the law and know their rights.
‘Educate yourselves on the laws, understand what the cops are saying to you, so if they try to flip anything on you, on young black men, on black men in general, we have the knowledge and we have the power to overthrow that, because we’re well-rounded. We know what’s going on. Be in the know.’
The emotional video ended with Pharoah lying on the ground with a knee pressed into his neck, with the comic saying: ‘I literally could have been George Floyd. We as a country can’t breathe anymore. We are tired, we are sick and we are tired of it. I can’t breathe.’
The post’s caption read: ‘Proud to have collabed w/ so many influencers on this one, @theonlycarey thank you for allowing me to express my situation w/ temperance. #blacklivesmatter #BlackFilter #jaypharoah #blackandproud.’
Pharoah’s fans and colleagues thanked him for the video in the comments, with Kenan Thompson writing: ‘Damn bro!!! Glad you’re still here and able to fight for those less fortunate!!!’
Taylor Williamson commented: ‘Jay I’m so sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing your story. Sending you all the love’, while Vanessa Bayer wrote: ‘I’m so sorry Jay. Love you.’
Pharaoh, who starred on SNL between 2010 and 2016, discusses the incident on Monday’s edition of The Talk, and in a preview, he told the hosts that regardless of anyone’s status or wealth, ‘if you are black in America, you can be subjected to the same thing.’
He said: ‘It was totally gratuitous. They didn’t have to do that. I was just trying to exercise. It could have easily turned into another situation if I wasn’t who I am.
‘The point here is that being black in America is just that: being black in America. Other people can’t level with the same fears that I have leaving the house. We should not have to fear going to the grocery store, going to get some gas, running down the street. It’s called human civility. That’s what it is. It’s about being a human. That’s why everybody is out protesting.’
The Los Angeles Police Department said they were ‘aware’ of the video and are ‘looking into it’.
Worldwide Black Lives Matter protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes during an arrest.
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