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Footage showing a kid in Connecticut hiding from a police vehicle as he was playing ball in front of his home has been making rounds online.
The boy’s dad, Stacey Pierre-Louis, posted the footage on social media a week ago, asking people:
“Why does he feel like he has to hide when he isn’t doing anything wrong?”
The video shows Eliah,10, playing basketball when he suddenly stops and hides behind a car from a passing police vehicle. A little later, the officers are gone and the boy resumes his game.
Eliah’s dad says he wasn’t sure whether to post the clip at first.
“I live in an affluent neighborhood in Trumbull with a really good school system. This kid has all the opportunity to do/be whatever he wants unlike many kids who look like him because resources aren’t made available. Why does he feel like he has to hide when he isn’t doing anything wrong?” he wrote.
Debated with myself for a few days before deciding to post this. I was at work watching my son shoot hoops in the driveway when I caught this. It floored me… I’ll save the dramatics, but growing up black or brown most of the time means fearing the police vs looking up to them. pic.twitter.com/2rQhx24spp
— Stacey Pierre-Louis (@lacetight11) June 17, 2020
He said he asked his son why he did that, to which Eliah replied:
“because they killed George Floyd.”
“I didn’t know what and still don’t know what to say to him to make it better,” he wrote in the post.
Five days after sharing the clip, the father, who works at a local BMW dealership, told CBS News that his son is “doing well” and he is “optimistic that this can add to making a change for the better.” He said they’ve welcomed the kind attention they’ve gotten from people on the web.
“Since I’ve shared this video, I’ve been overwhelmed with support which leads me to believe that there is far more good in this world than there is bad,” he said last Tuesday. “So it is our hope that this video can be used as a tool to help continue to bring us together in this fight and inspire change for the better.”
I asked him why he did that when he got home. He replied; “because they killed George Floyd”. Stunned, I replied;ok kiddo. I didn’t know what and still don’t know what to say to him to make it better.
— Stacey Pierre-Louis (@lacetight11) June 17, 2020
He said he was working at the time and felt “helpless” when he saw the footage for the first time, wishing he could have been next to his son in order to comfort him.
“But unfortunately this is the reality for millions of Black and minority children across this nation and the world,” he told the publication.
“My priority as a parent and family man is to protect my son and children from the atrocities and injustices of the world and provide them with the tools to be whole, productive and fearless contributing members of the world,” he added. “Unfortunately, in the state of times and for reasons we all see daily, it makes it difficult. But as many parents are doing, I can only continue to educate and prepare my son with the truth and arm him with the tools to continue to create change. It’s my hope that when he becomes a man, he’ll then be able to do the same for his family.”
He didn’t learn this behavior at home. We stream movies so he doesn’t see the news and we don’t talk negatively about police.
What would you say?
— Stacey Pierre-Louis (@lacetight11) June 17, 2020
The clip has been widely shared with many people expressing their thoughts.
NBA player LeBron James also saw the footage and said: “Breaks my Heart.”
Breaks my Heart!! 😢😢😢😢💔 https://t.co/wKLDonZ9sC
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 16, 2020
The fact that the he responded to the clip was warmly welcomed by Eliah’s family.
“My son was over the moon to see that his favorite player noticed him and that LeBron saw him playing,” the proud dad said. “The first question he asked is if LeBron saw that he made the shot at the end of the video!”
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