3 Filmmakers #BlackWhileAirbnb-ing Plan to Sue Police

[GMDino]

Here's a fun story about white people afraid of black people....

https://www.theroot.com/blackwhileairbnbeing-3-filmmakers-checking-out-of-ren-1825823565

Quote:Updated: Tuesday, May 8, 2018, 11:15 a.m. EDT: It turns out that one of the three filmmakers who were recently stopped by a swarm of police cars for checking out of an Airbnb is the granddaughter of the late, great reggae singer and prophet Bob Marley.

The woman in the photo above has been identified by the New York Daily News as 33-year-old Donisha Prendergast, daughter of Sharon Marley. Last week, Prendergast and two of her cohorts, Kells Fyffe Marshall and Komi-Oluwa
Olafimihan, were stopped from leaving in their car by at least seven police cars and a helicopter after a white woman in a Rialto, Calif., neighborhood called police saying that there were “three black people stealing stuff.”

The Daily News also reports that the trio plan to sue the Police Department, and promises to release a longer version of the video encounter.

Earlier:

Unfortunately, the spate of wypipo calling police on black folks simply living their lives—playing golf, working out, having coffee—continues.


This time the incident involves a group of three black filmmakers who were staying in an Airbnb home rental in the Golden State. A woman named Kells Fyffe-Marshall posted on her Facebook page last week that as she and two other black friends were leaving their rental in Rialto, Calif., they were met with a throng of seven police cars and a helicopter, because why not call in the whirlybird on this?

This kerfuffle went down because a white neighbor took it upon herself to call said law enforcements on the friends, allegedly because they didn’t “wave to her” (did she know them?), and also because three black people taking luggage out of a home automatically means they’re robbing the joint.


Fyffe-Marshall said that the confrontation was humiliating but quickly escalated after a “sergeant” arrived (it’s always that guy, right?) and “insisted that [they] were lying,” making them prove that they were lawfully in the right for leaving a home with luggage. Also, the cops had never heard of Airbnb. So the filmmakers had to call the guy who owned the place, who confirmed that all was legitimate; however, they were stilldetained because the matter involved a “felony charge.”

Here is Fyffe-Marshall’s entire account:

Quote:During our time in Cali we have been staying at an Airbnb. The 30th was our second morning and at about 11am we checked out. The four of us packed our bags, locked up the house and left. As you can see 3 of us were Black. About 10 seconds later we were surrounded by 7 cop cars. The officers came out of their cars demanding us to put our hands in the air. They informed us that there was also a helicopter tracking us. They locked down the neighborhood and had us standing in the street. Why? A neighbour across the street saw 3 black people packing luggage into their car and assumed we were stealing from the house. She then called the police.

At first we joked about the misunderstanding and took photos and videos along the way.

About 20 minutes into this misunderstanding it escalated almost instantly. Their Sergeant arrived... he explained they didn’t know what Airbnb was. He insisted that we were lying about it and said we had to prove it. We showed them the booking confirmations and phoned the landlord... because they didn’t know what she looked like on the other end to confirm it was her.. they detained us - because they were investigating a felony charge - for 45 minutes while they figured it out. He made me show my ID and made it clear I was being tagged.

We have been dealing with different emotions and you want to laugh about this but it’s not funny. The trauma is real. I’ve been angry, fustrated and sad. This is insanity.

The cops admit that the woman’s reason for calling the police was because we didn’t WAVE to her as she looked at us putting our luggage into our car from her lawn.

But they pulled over three filmmakers! We documented it all!!!!! #wedidntwave#arighttoberight #racialprofiling #privilege#rightourstories #therevolution#whenyoupulloverfilmmakers @shaunking@amandaseales 
@iamdonisha @komiolaf @ahutchphoto

The woman at the center of this ordeal also posted the same video to Instagram (too bad they were filmmakers).

OK. White people. Please stop calling the police on black people simply living their lives. It is the height of aggression (although you are using a proxy, which is the apex of passive aggression). Be clear: Black people tend to die when police are called. This is not hyperbole.

And even if said black folks end up miraculously not dead, the experience is often humiliating, emotionally exhausting and disheartening, not to mention traumatic.

You need to really get over yourself and really interrogate why certain people make you “uncomfortable” or “scared” or send your mind automatically to “criminal.” Working against your own knee-jerk prejudices may save a life.

Tell a friend.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bob-marley-granddaughter-plans-sue-california-police-force-article-1.3977327

Quote:Bob Marley's granddaughter and two pals, all of whom are black, plan to sue a California law enforcement agency after they were confused for thieves, rather than Airbnb guests, according to authorities.



The trio served the Rialto Police Department with notice of a pending lawsuit Monday after an April 30 confrontation where Donisha Prendergast, a 33-year-old filmmaker and descendant of the legendary reggae singer, was accused of burgling a home.


She and her friends were witnessed packing their luggage into a car outside a rental, which alarmed the 911 caller who failed to "recognize the vehicle or the people as neighbors, or the homeowner."
The officers pulled Prendergast over in the San Bernardino suburb and said a neighbor saw "three black people stealing stuff."


"Like breaking into the house and taking stuff," the officer said, according to video of the April 30 encounter. The back-and-forth spanned more than 20 minutes as police grilled the trio, eventually conceding that the group was "Airbnb renters and were at the residence as guests," according to police officials.


The department assured Prendergast and the two other guests were never restrained as officers contacted the rental owner "to confirm there had been no crime committed."


The three guests were identified by police as Marley's grandkid, Prendergast, Kells Fyffee Marshall and Komi-Oluwa Olafimihan.
 
Both Prendergast and Marshall bemoaned the encounter on social media.


"Got surrounded by the police for being black in a white neighbourhood. Smh," Prendergast wrote in an Instagram post.


"I'm sad and irritated to see that fear is still the first place police officers go in their pursuit to serve and protect, to the point that protocol supersedes their ability to have discernment," she added. "Many have suffered and died in moments like these. 
That's a crazy reality check. Give Thanks for life, and the ability to stand our ground."


A rep for Prendergast declined to comment further but pledged to release a longer version of the video and details of the pending lawsuit.



She is being represented by Miami-based lawyer Jasmine Rand, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[fredtoast]

If I saw a bunch of strangers carrying stuff out of my neighbors house I might also call the police (No matter what color they were).  But this should have been cleared up in 5 minutes.

Not near enough info about what took so long, so it is possible the police were being low-key racist a-holes.

But based on comments like this "And even if said black folks end up miraculously not dead," I think the filmmakers may have been acting crazy themselves.

[*PhilHos*]

(05-08-2018, 01:00 PM)GMDino Wrote: Here's a fun story about white people afraid of black people....

Looks like 1 white person and I don't see where she was "afraid" of black people. Racist, maybe, probably, but afraid? Not based on the article.

(05-08-2018, 01:00 PM)GMDino Wrote:

Quote:OK. White people. Please stop calling the police on black people simply living their lives. It is the height of aggression (although you are using a proxy, which is the apex of passive aggression). Be clear: Black people tend to die when police are called. This is not hyperbole.

And this would be my response to him: "Ok, Black people. Stop being criminals and maybe the police won't be called on you so much. This is not hyperbole."

In all seroiusness, black people do NOT tend to die when police are called. Complain about the racist people who assume blacks are criminals and/or up to no good because they are indeed a problem but claiming black peope tned to die when police are called IS hyperbole. 

[GMDino]

(05-08-2018, 01:11 PM)fredtoast Wrote: If I saw a bunch of strangers carrying stuff out of my neighbors house I might also call the police (No matter what color they were).  But this should have been cleared up in 5 minutes.

Not near enough info about what took so long, so it is possible the police were being low-key racist a-holes.

But based on comments like this "And even if said black folks end up miraculously not dead," I think the filmmakers may have been acting crazy themselves.

Or not as they filmed the thing.

(05-08-2018, 01:28 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Looks like 1 white person and I don't see where she was "afraid" of black people. Racist, maybe, probably, but afraid? Not based on the article.


And this would be my response to him: "Ok, Black people. Stop being criminals and maybe the police won't be called on you so much. This is not hyperbole."

In all seroiusness, black people do NOT tend to die when police are called. Complain about the racist people who assume blacks are criminals and/or up to no good because they are indeed a problem but claiming black peope tned to die when police are called IS hyperbole. 

I like to lump all white people in with the actions of a few.  That seems to be the only way to cover a story. 

[fredtoast]

(05-08-2018, 01:34 PM)GMDino Wrote: Or not as they filmed the thing.

I'd like to see that full film.

Her comments were over the top even though she was the one who wrote them.

[fredtoast]

How many of you think the person who called the police was being racist and would not have done the exact same thing if she saw white stranger carrying stuff out of her neighbors house?

You have to admit that would seem a bit suspicious.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

Thread not going as Dino hoped.


I'd add that forty-five minutes is not much time to ensure that a felony suspect's story is, in fact genuine.  Before people like Dino jump on the "felony suspect" line, the police didn't report the incident, the neighbor did.  They were responding to a call of a felony in progress.  They don't get there, detain those alleged to be involved and then let them go immediately when the "suspects" explain it was all a misunderstanding.  Unless the police were abusive or unprofessional this seems like a complete non-story to me. 

[fredtoast]

(05-08-2018, 01:47 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: I'd add that forty-five minutes is not much time to ensure that a felony suspect's story is, in fact genuine. 

Not when the people had an AirBNB booking confirmation to show them.

Like I said, there is a lot more to this story.  They claim that there were several police cars and a helicopter, yet they had to wait 20 minutes for a "sargeant" to arrive at the scene.  That does not make any sense.

Something was going on that made a simple misunderstanding last 45 minutes.  Don't know which side to blame, but 45 minutes was an excessive amount of time for this to be cleared up.

[StLucieBengal]

(05-08-2018, 01:42 PM)fredtoast Wrote: How many of you think the person who called the police was being racist and would not have done the exact same thing if she saw white stranger carrying stuff out of her neighbors house?

You have to admit that would seem a bit suspicious.

No racist at all. I would do the same and I would hope my neighbors would do as well.

[GMDino]

(05-08-2018, 01:47 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Thread not going as Dino hoped.

I hoped people would talk about it. It appears they are. Sooooo......

(05-08-2018, 01:47 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: I'd add that forty-five minutes is not much time to ensure that a felony suspect's story is, in fact genuine.  Before people like Dino jump on the "felony suspect" line, the police didn't report the incident, the neighbor did.  They were responding to a call of a felony in progress.  They don't get there, detain those alleged to be involved and then let them go immediately when the "suspects" explain it was all a misunderstanding.  Unless the police were abusive or unprofessional this seems like a complete non-story to me. 

Color me stunned.

[GMDino]

(05-08-2018, 01:42 PM)fredtoast Wrote: How many of you think the person who called the police was being racist and would not have done the exact same thing if she saw white stranger carrying stuff out of her neighbors house?

You have to admit that would seem a bit suspicious.

If the home is being used as an airbnb they must have seen others coming out when the neighbor isn't home.

Also, how many criminals rob houses using luggage?  Maybe we have an expert than can tell us.

[*PhilHos*]

(05-08-2018, 01:42 PM)fredtoast Wrote: How many of you think the person who called the police was being racist and would not have done the exact same thing if she saw white stranger carrying stuff out of her neighbors house?

You have to admit that would seem a bit suspicious.

The only way I could "excuse" her is if she didn't know that the place they were coming from was a rental. But, according to the article, she supposedly only called because they ddin't wave back to her. So, it does sound like a case of racism being the reason she called.

[fredtoast]

(05-08-2018, 03:03 PM)GMDino Wrote: If the home is being used as an airbnb they must have seen others coming out when the neighbor isn't home.

Maybe, but we don't know if it had ever been booked before.  Like I said already, there is a lot we don't know.

(05-08-2018, 03:03 PM)GMDino Wrote: Also, how many criminals rob houses using luggage?  

How many people on vacation bring along an entire truck load of complicated video cameras and electronic equipment?


And the video she posted was so cut up you couldn't tell anything except that the police seem to be very nice.  The one officer even acknowledged that it was possible they were called for racial reasons, but he was still obliged to finish the investigation.

I preach against racism as much as anyone here, but in this case it looks like the only racist might have been the neighbor, but we don't even know that for sure.  She might have just been alarmed by the strangers coming out of her neighbors house.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(05-08-2018, 02:04 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Not when the people had an AirBNB booking confirmation to show them.

Like I said, there is a lot more to this story.  They claim that there were several police cars and a helicopter, yet they had to wait 20 minutes for a "sargeant" to arrive at the scene.  That does not make any sense.

Something was going on that made a simple misunderstanding last 45 minutes.  Don't know which side to blame, but 45 minutes was an excessive amount of time for this to be cleared up.

None of us know the particulars, just one side of the story with an obviously biased position.  After all they are suing.  I don't see 45 minutes, from point of contact to you're free to go as an excessive amount of time.  They weren't cuffed, sat on the curb or in a patrol car.  Even if you say the time was too long, I'm not going to be too upset over an abundance of caution.

(05-08-2018, 03:01 PM)GMDino Wrote: I hoped people would talk about it.  It appears they are. Sooooo......  

Suuuuurrrrrrreeeeeee.   

Quote:Color me stunned.  

You really think the police did something wrong here?  If there is blame to apportion, the only person who seems deserving of it would be the neighbor who called police.  Why don't you give us your opinion, kind sir?

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(05-08-2018, 03:03 PM)GMDino Wrote: If the home is being used as an airbnb they must have seen others coming out when the neighbor isn't home.

The police or the neighbor? 

Quote:Also, how many criminals rob houses using luggage?  Maybe we have an expert than can tell us.

That kind of pre-planning is very common in burglaries nowadays.  They'll have a person rent an out of state car, usually a nice one, they'll have a police scanner in the car and they'll case locations out for weeks before hitting a string of them in one day.  They frequently use pillow cases from inside the home to transport goods as they are generally looking for cash, guns and jewelry.  There are crews that take electronics as well, especially portable expensive electronics.  So, yeah, using luggage to haul out the stolen items wouldn't be unheard of.

[Griever]

the lady called because they didnt wave back

and the cops tried to say they didnt know what AirBnB was when shown onfirmation and proof

[XenoMorph]

Well if my neighbor didn't know I was Air BnBing my house and they saw people leaving carrying large amounts of stuff(and it wasn't me) I hope they call the police too...

I don't think this is as racially motivated as they want to make it out to be.....

[*PhilHos*]

(05-08-2018, 05:23 PM)Griever Wrote: the lady called because they didnt wave back

and the cops tried to say they didnt know what AirBnB was when shown onfirmation and proof

AirBnB launched in 2008 (according to Wikipedia). Up until last year, I never heard of it. Unless you're a frequent traveler, chances are unlikely you would have heard of it, either.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donisha-prendergrast-racial-profiing-airbnb_us_5af1d3f5e4b041fd2d2ba96b?section=us_black-voices


Apparently this is the first time the owner leased her property on AirBNB, which makes the neighbor's response a bit more understandable. Also, per the property owner;

Quote:She also alleged Prendergast’s group was rude and is making the incident all about race.

“They’re latching on to this whole racism thing because they’re black,” Rodriguez said, “but this is a diverse neighborhood.”

I guess we'll know even more when the entire video from Bob Marley's granddaughter (why is this relevant btw?) is released.

[GMDino]

(05-09-2018, 10:43 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donisha-prendergrast-racial-profiing-airbnb_us_5af1d3f5e4b041fd2d2ba96b?section=us_black-voices


Apparently this is the first time the owner leased her property on AirBNB, which makes the neighbor's response a bit more understandable.  Also, per the property owner;



I guess we'll know even more when the entire video from Bob Marley's granddaughter (why is this relevant btw?) is released.

Yeah, why would a black person think it was about race when they knew and had proof they did nothing wrong?  That just about never happens. 

It was information that came out after the event last week.  Media love famous people, whatcha gonna do?