Video of Edina, Minnesota Police Officer Confronting Black Pedestrian Sparks Outrage

EDINA, MN — A video of a confrontation between an Edina, Minnesota, police officer and a black man who said he was simply walking on the side of the road has sparked outrage across the state.

The Edina police maintain the man was defiant and say the video, recorded Wednesday, does not tell the whole story. They said the man didn’t stop when the officer asked him to do so.

Black Lives Matter Minneapolis also responded to the video, saying on Facebook "Walking while Black in Edina, MN can be deadly."

Edina is one of the wealthiest suburbs in the Twin Cities metro. It has a white population of 88.1 percent. Black residents make up 3 percent of the population.

The man, identified by the Star Tribune as Larnie B. Thomas, 34, of Minneapolis, was later cited for disorderly conduct and pedestrian failure to obey a traffic signal before being released.

The video was filmed by Janet Rowles, who said she drove by Thomas in the 5900 block of Xerxes Avenue S. as he was walking on the white line dividing the road’s shoulder from the traffic lane.

Rowles said she assumed Thomas was avoiding the sidewalk because it was under construction. Rowles stopped her vehicle and began filming plainclothes police officer Lt. T.F. Olson, who is seen in the video grabbing the back of Thomas’ jacket.

"I witnessed and videoed this earlier today," reads the description in Rowles' video.

"I passed by a man who was walking on the white line of the shoulder of the street. There was construction and it was obvious that the sidewalk was not available right there so he was hugging the right side as far as he could go. I went around him and noticed in my rearview mirror that an unmarked SUV turned on police lights. The officer pulled in front of the pedestrian to cut him off and proceeded to accuse him of walking in the middle of the street."

"I’m not against the police,” Rowles told the Star Tribune. “I was against what he was doing.”

The Edina Police Department released a statement Friday on the city's Facebook page, which states that while "it’s your right" to film police interactions with the public, "it’s important to note that attempting to interact with the officer and/or suspect creates a greater risk to the safety of the officer, suspect and bystanders."

A video of one of our police officers is circulating online. This incident started several minutes prior to the recording. During that time, our police officer observed a man walking southbound on Xerxes Avenue at West 60th Street in the southbound lane of traffic, though there is a sidewalk on the east side and a sidewalk under construction and a paved shoulder on the west side of the street.

Recognizing the risk to the safety of the public, the officer pulled in behind the man with his lights and an audible signal in an attempt to advise him to get out of the roadway. The man, who was wearing headphones, turned and looked at the officer and continued walking in the lane of traffic. The officer then drove in front of the man by approximately 15 feet, to block him from continuing in the southbound lane of traffic. The man deliberately went around the squad car and continued to walk in the lane of traffic. The officer got out of his vehicle and started to follow the man, asking him to get out of the lane of traffic and stop. The man did not stop and was defiant. It was after that point that the recording began. The officer smelled alcohol on the man’s breath during the incident. A breathalyzer later confirmed the presence of alcohol.

As a bystander, it’s your right to film officer interactions. However, it’s important to note that attempting to interact with the officer and/or suspect creates a greater risk to the safety of the officer, suspect and bystanders. Public safety is our first priority. It makes it more difficult for officers to deal with the situation on hand when they are at the same time dealing with the distractions of bystanders.

The statement on Facebook has since drawn nearly a thousand comments and more than 100 shares as of 11 a.m. Saturday.

Advisory: Profane language can be heard in this video.

Image via YouTube