By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK — A satirist and documentary filmmaker received some surprising responses after asking people on the streets of Brooklyn and East Harlem their feelings about cops.
A video posted on YouTube by Ami Horowitz shows the media personality first asking residents in the neighborhood of Williamsburg, which he dubs the “Hipster Mecca,” to explain how cops in America treat people of color.
“They’re greedy and they’re racist, and it’s not just in New York, it’s nationwide,” one pedestrian tells Horowitz in the video.
“They’re doing whatever the he** they want,” another tells him.
Horowitz then asks the same pedestrians if residents in a predominantly black neighborhood would share the same feelings about law enforcement.
“I think the rage is completely justified,” one respondent holding a double-scoop ice cream cone tells Horowitz.
“They hate cops over there,” another says.
Horowitz then travels to East Harlem - wearing a “Cops Lives Matter” shirt - and stops residents on the street to sign a petition in support of the NYPD. Their responses are drastically different than what those in Williamsburg claimed they would be.
Most community members tell Horowitz they support the police.
“At the end of the day, people put themselves in certain situations...and it’s police’s job to protect,” a man walking with his child says. “Their lives are just as valuable as ours.”
“When is everybody going to come to their senses and realize we all matter?” another woman tells him.
The video garnered over 7,000 views.