The arrest of a black man on a busy Chicago street sparked outrage among onlookers after a black woman insisted a white man shouldn’t film it because her rights are “different” from his.
The white blogger went to the scene near North Wells Street on Wednesday afternoon after a police radio scanner tweeted about an off-duty officer being attacked by a man in a Dodge Charger.
He pulled out his phone after finding three white officers arresting the dreadlocked driver who didn’t resist, but found another subject when a female onlooker demanded he stop filming and accused him of racism.
As the arresting officers looked on in bewilderment, he told her he knew his rights and suggested she know hers.
“Oh, I know my rights, and my rights are different than yours,” she shot back. ‘Do you want to know why? Because that’s a black guy, and you’re a white guy.’
The white blogger filmed the arrest of a black suspect by three white police officers
One of the spectators then turned to him and demanded that he put down his camera: ‘Stop exploiting him, what are you doing? Are you going to exploit black people?’ she said
The blogger, who goes by the X handle @ASPARAGUSJCRU, was alerted to the incident by this tweet from a police radio scanner
The angry confrontation erupted when the smartly dressed woman spotted her fellow spectator with his camera off.
“Stop taking a picture,” she demanded.
‘Stop exploiting him, what are you doing? Are you going to exploit black people?’
She pulled out her phone and said, “Get ready to exploit black people, so let me exploit you.”
“Let me exploit you, you racist piece of shit, because I’m going to put you everywhere because I bet I have more followers than you.”
As the confrontation escalated, she seemed to suggest that the blogger’s camerawork also infringed on the rights of the now four white officers who arrested the black suspect.
“You want to exploit a black man. You want to exploit these police officers while they’re doing whatever it is they’re doing. What if it was your brother? Because you don’t care,” she claimed.
“Do you know the Constitution, ma’am?” the blogger asked her?
‘F***. You,” she replied emphatically.
“You can record things,” he noted.
“His constitution means nothing to you,” she growled. “His rights.”
“Know your rights,” the man told her, prompting her to angrily emphasize that her rights are different from his.
“I know my rights, and my rights are different than yours,” she told the blogger. ‘Do you want to know why? Because that’s a black guy, and you’re a white guy.’
Another audience member stepped forward in an attempt to calm things down, telling the blogger, “You have the right to record, go ahead, it’s okay.”
The arresting police officers looked on in bewilderment as the argument unfolded next to them
The blogger is now looking forward to seeing how his opponent makes good on her promise to post footage of the encounter
The blogger, who identifies himself as James on
“Where did this arrogance and entitlement come from?” one poster demanded after they uploaded it to X.
“Notice how she inserts her racism by calling that grown man a white boy,” a second added.
“The last minute recording of officer exploitation was quite audible,” a third wrote.
An intervention from a black audience member did little to calm the situation as he called on the pair to “keep the peace.”
‘Look, do you have footage?’ he asked the man.
“You have the right to record, go ahead, it’s okay, but look…”
“You’re a white boy and you’re exploiting our lives,” the woman interrupted. ‘You don’t care? I know you don’t care.’
“Don’t commit crimes,” the blogger told her.
“That’s not a crime,” she shot back. “You don’t know what he’s doing.”
“I saw it on Twitter,” he noted.
Some online admired the woman’s spirit, with one writing: ‘I hope she approaches those teenagers with the same energy who are up to no good in the inner city too!
“Respect for the man who came to take it apart,” wrote another.
More than 250,000 people saw the footage in less than 24 hours after it was posted on X by the Chicago Contrarian website
While a third simply noted that ‘Karen comes in all colours, shapes and sizes’.
James is now looking forward to seeing how his opponent makes good on her promise to post footage of the encounter.
“Do you think I’ll be canceled?” he asked.
“Actually, I didn’t do anything that crazy…but in today’s world, you never know.”