When a family set up their barbeque grill at a popular park in Oakland, California — as countless people have done before — a woman thought it was a serious enough reason to call the police, and the ensuing drama was captured on cellphone video.
“This is exactly what is the problem with Oakland today. This lady wants to sit here and call the police on them for having a barbeque at the lake as if this is not normal,” said Michelle Snider, who took the video. The woman accused the family, who is black, of breaking the law with her barbeque setup.
Speaking to KRON4, Snider’s husband Kenzie Smith said they were preparing their weekend cookout when the woman approached them.
“She said that we were trespassing, we were not welcome, and then she turned back around and said, ‘ya’ll going to jail,'” said Smith.
The woman rightly pointed out that the family was grilling with charcoal in a non-charcoal designated area, but Snider argued that it wasn’t a big enough reason to call the police.
In the video, the two parties argue about the park rules as the woman stays on the phone with dispatchers and complains that the police are taking too long to respond.
“They’ve got other things to do other than sit here and listen to another white lady complain about black people in Lake Merritt Park,” Snider says in the video. “This is a park for everybody.”
At one point in the video, the woman, who is white, tells dispatchers that the family is harassing her.
As Snider continues to follow the woman while recording her on her cellphone, the woman begins sobbing and says, “I’m being harassed.”
Ultimately, the police took no action.
Watch the video below:
Featured image via screen grab
