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TikToker confronts cops trying to 'wrongly nab' Black man instead of White offender

One officer was heard telling the woman she was not 'contributing positively' to the situation

A video has gone viral on social media after it showed an indigenous woman standing up for a Black man who was apparently wrongly detained by police officers.

TikTok user @kaanaawildrose confronted a couple of Eugene cops in Oregon as they were about to arrest a man who was allegedly the actual victim. Authorities are said to have gotten confused and arrested the Black man while apparently letting the White perpetrators leave scot-free from the scene. The woman, who uses the handle @kaanaawildrose on TikTok, was applauded after she filmed the Black individual being pinned to his car by the officers and prevented them from arresting him. That said, it is unclear where exactly the incident unfolded.

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“It was those people going after him,” the TikToker yelled at the officers. “I saw that.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” the Black man added, addressing both the officers and @kaanaawildrose.

Both the TikToker and the detained individual explained to the cops that it was indeed a White man who allegedly accosted the Black individual, but police appeared to believe the former's account of what happened. The video went viral on social media, garnering millions of views in one day. It shows the police officer telling the TikToker that she's not “contributing positively" to the situation.

According to the Daily Dot, @kaanaawildrose is an indigenous woman. She reportedly complained in a follow-up video that the police ultimately did not listen to her but her White partner who was with her. In the clip, she also recalled being labeled “obnoxious and distracting” by one of the officers at the scene. Another allegedly “claimed that he was offended [by her actions] because his wife is Black so he can’t be racist.” Nonetheless, the cops eventually let the man go following the intervention of the TikToker’s partner. “This man was able to go home to his brand new baby yesterday and that man was scared he wouldn’t,” @kaanaawildrose said in another post.

Twitter was inundated with praises for the TikToker as she stood up to the officers. "Thank you whoever spoke out and took this video. Perhaps this is the best fix for our society, when private citizens are vigilant to call out injustices," one wrote while another added, "He looked so frightened and then relieved when she stepped in, but still shaken up. I feel so bad for him. We need police reform now".

"This lady is so Amazing. She videotaped the incident and she is very vocal about what she witnessed. Lady witnessing in the video you are awesome. Thank you, the world needs more people like you. See something say something. You are my inspiration," a comment read. "She's a role model. It takes courage to stand up to the cops and tell them they are mistaken or out of line. But it's something we all need to do when we see this kind of behavior. Bearing witness can be a powerful deterrent in situations like this," a user tweeted.
 
"I applaud that lady you go, girl. You could tell the police knew what they were doing was wrong by how quickly they backed off of that man, as soon as she pointed out the facts," one commented. "This is what John Lewis referred to as 'Good Trouble'! Don't be comfortable with bias and racism - this woman called it out and recorded it!" another chimed in.