Young Boy Begs Father Not to Call 911 on Black Man for 'Trespassing'

ootage of a child begging his father not to call the cops on a black man waiting for a friend in a building lobby has gone viral online.

The video clip, filmed and shared to Facebook on Thursday by user Wesly Michel, had been viewed more than 1.3 million times as of Tuesday 10.30 a.m. ET.

In the video, a white man confronts Michel for standing in the lobby of his building. He asks him to step outside, call his friend and get them to come downstairs. Michel responds: "You don't have to do that. You could just walk away."

The unnamed man then threatens to call the police. His son, apparently surprised by his father's actions, says, "Daddy don't, don't, don't."

"Oh yes, yes, call the police." Michel responded calmly, explaining this kind of thing happened to him "all the time" when he lived in his own condo. As the man dials his phone, Michel reminds him he is being recorded on a cellphone.

Now speaking down the phone, the man says: "There's a trespasser in my building. He's refusing to leave."

His son, meanwhile, begs him to stop. "Daddy go. It's the better—I agree with him daddy," the child says. But the father shushes his son and carries on with the call.

Over the phone, the man accuses Michel of "tailgating" his way into the building by walking through the front door as he tried to leave. Describing Michel, the man said: "He appears to be African American."

Throughout the encounter, the young boy periodically asks his father to stop and leave. On the call, the man questions the existence of Michel's friend and asks for their name. "I don't have to tell you s***," Michel responded.

Then, out of shot, another person is heard greeting Michel, who responds: "I love you baby—it took you so long to get here."

"Daddy, look what you've gotten us into! Let's go," the son says, pulling on his father's hand. But his father continues the call.

Michel walks over to assist his friend, who has special needs. "Remember I am recording you. I'm fucking recording you," he says to the man.

"Hey, don't use that language in front of children," the man says as he walks behind Michel with his son.

The man continues to talk to police, asserting that Michel failed to properly identify himself, before finally putting away his phone. He then asks Michel to put away his cell.

Many Facebook users criticized the unnamed man in the footage. "F*** him and anyone who side with him—that was bulls***," commented one user.

Another wrote: "People just need to learn to stop profiling us and just mind their f***ing business."

Another argued the incident was about security and "had nothing to do with race." Claiming a high volume of break-ins was behind strict protocols at some buildings, they said they would have acted like the man in the video.

The user wrote: "What makes you think you can just 'tailgate' a residential building without being questioned?"

Michel did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for comment.

Source: Newsweek

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