The comedian shared what appeared to be security footage of the incident on Instagram, saying “it could have easily turned into another situation if I wasn’t who I am.”
Jay Pharoah is speaking out about his own experience with the police, saying cops will come for any Black person in America, regardless of celebrity status.
The former “Saturday Night Live” cast member appeared on “The Talk” Friday to share one recent — and particularly frightening incident — he had during a run in San Fernando Valley.
“It has nothing to do with your status or anything,” he began. “If you are Black in America, you can be subjected to the same thing.”
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Explaining he was on a run down Ventura Blvd., Pharoah said he noticed a helicopter flying above him, before a cop appeared to his left. “I’m not thinking nothing of it because I’m a law abiding citizen,” he explained. “I never even got a ticket. I’m from the South, ‘Yes ma’am,’ ‘No sir,’ I have that etiquette.”
“All of a sudden, I see a gun from my peripheral and I look and the officer is like, ‘Freeze! Get on the ground,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh snap, they about to take somebody down,'” he continued. “No, they were coming at me, guns blazing, ‘Get on the ground, spread your arms like an airplane!'”
He said three more officers showed up and followed suit, surrounding him as they told him to get on the ground.
“Keep in mind, I exercise. I’m running, I’m sweating. It’s hot, corona[virus] is definitely something to be worried about in this moment,” he continued. “The police officers didn’t have on gloves. They didn’t have on masks. They just said get on the ground. They said I fit the description of a black man with gray sweatpants and a gray shirt.”
“When they put me in cuffs, after they were all on me, an officer put his knee on my neck,” he continued, drawing parallels to George Floyd’s death and revealing he had footage of the whole thing. “You see me get put on the ground. It was totally gratuitous.”
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While they didn’t show the footage on “The Talk,” he also posted it on Instagram earlier today (above). His footage begins around the 1:00 mark.
Continuing his story on the morning show, Pharoah said he told the police, “If you google Jay Pharoah, you will see you made a serious mistake.” The police eventually got the all-clear that Jay wasn’t their suspect.
“I was just trying to exercise. It could have easily turned into another situation if I wasn’t who I am,” he said. “And the point here is being Black in America, is just that, being Black in America. Other people can’t level with the same fears I have leaving the house. We should not have to fear going to the grocery store, going to get some gas, running down a street. It’s called human civility. That’s what it is. It’s about being a human.”
“That’s why people are out protesting,” he concluded. “Corona put us in the house and George Floyd took us out of it.”
TooFab has reached out to the LAPD for comment.
