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Black man had police called on him for talking to son during soccer game

Posted at 5:50 PM, Oct 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-17 18:50:50-04

By RNN Staff

(RNN) – A black man in Florida had the police called on him last weekend by a white woman overseeing a youth soccer game because the man was speaking to his son.

According to WTLV in Jacksonville, the woman said she believed the man was saying something to the referee, something parents aren’t supposed to do.

When police arrived, he explained he in fact had been telling his son not to argue with the ref.

“I told him, ‘Hey, the ref is right,’” the man said. Video of his interaction with police was taken by another parent at the game, Ginger Williams, and obtained by WLTV.

Williams posted about the incident to Facebook. She corroborated the man’s account.

“This man was simply trying to watch his son’s soccer game and cheer him from the sides,” Williams wrote. “He yelled ‘The ref is right!’ when he saw his kid out there getting frustrated after a call.”

The incident is the latest in a string involving white people calling the police on innocent black people that have gained attention on social media. Williams’ post was shared more than 25,000 times.

Williams dubbed the woman “Golfcart Gail,” in the style following “BBQ Becky,” a white woman who called police on a black family barbecuing in a park, and subsequent incidents. The woman overseeing the soccer game was doing so from a golf cart.

“This woman, let’s call her Golfcart Gail, decided to spring into action and rapidly approach this parent and remind him that harassment would not be tolerated. He informed her that he was only speaking to his son,” Williams wrote. “For whatever reason, Golfcart Gail just would not let this go. She continued to harass and beleaguer this parent.”

When the man attempted to leave to defuse the situation, Williams wrote, “Golfcart Gail informed him that she was calling the police because she no longer felt safe with his threatening behavior.”

The video captures the man speaking with police.

“I was only talking to my son, and that’s it. But she kept going. And I’m like, ‘Ma’am, I’m done with it,’” he said. “And then she was like, ‘Well if that’s the way you feel, you can just leave and I can just call the police.’ And I’m like, ‘What’d I do? I didn’t do anything.’ Listen I play by the rules, I know how sports are, and that’s all that I did.”

In the video, the woman can also be seen talking to police.

She said the man “just got, like, nasty with me. You know, ‘I’m not talking to you anymore,’ you know, ‘We’re done with this.’”

Another parent, Maria Morales-Walther, told WLTV that “at no point was he aggressive.”

She provided the station with another video, showing some of the incident.

In that video, the man can be heard saying, “this is stupid” as he leaves.

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