BOSTON (WHDH) - Mayor Martin Walsh said that a widely-shared video of a Black man stopped by law enforcement while jogging in West Roxbury is “extremely disturbing” and that he is looking into the matter.
Rep. Edward Coppinger first reached out to Walsh about the video followed by City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George, the mayor said during a press conference Wednesday.
“This was an extremely disturbing video to watch,” he said. “It was unacceptable in so many ways. It violates someone’s rights just because of the color of their skin and it’s unacceptable.”
The man in the video says he was jogging when men with bulletproof vests approached him and started asking him questions.
ICE released a statement, saying their officers stopped the man because he matched the description of a suspect wanted on drug trafficking charges.
““ICE officers were conducting surveillance as part of a targeted enforcement action Wednesday in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, looking for a previously deported Haitian national with multiple criminal convictions and pending cocaine and fentanyl trafficking charges that may have been residing in the area. An individual matching the subject’s description appeared in the area associated with their subject,” the statement read. “The ICE officers approached him, identifying themselves as Police/ICE, and asked to speak with the individual. During the encounter, ICE officers determined the individual was not the subject of their investigation and that he did not have any additional information regarding their subject or his whereabouts and was free to leave the scene.”
The jogger’s mother claims it was a case of racial profiling.
Walsh spoke with the man in the video Wednesday morning and said he was shaken up by the incident.
He added that he contacted Boston police to have them reach out to federal authorities to investigate this matter further.
“In Boston, we believe in the power of community policing and it’s the important trust between law enforcement and our community to make sure we ensure public safety for everyone,” Walsh said. “Incidents like this have no place in our city, have no place in our country quite honestly. It causes real pain, fear and concern.”
The mayor says he plans to speak with the jogger again as he continues looking into this incident.
No additional information has been released.
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