Photo: Seminole County, Florida Sheriff’s Office
Two white men in Sanford, Fla., were arrested after a Black teenager said he was racially profiled, and his car was hit with a rock while driving through their neighborhood.
“Get out of my neighborhood,” the men can be heard yelling during the tense confrontation, accusing the teenager of “burning out racing through my f—ing neighborhood.”
A shattered car window can be seen in the video, which was taken down from Jones' page but has beenposted elsewhere.
Bailey Kennedy, 15, was a passenger in Jones' car,Buzzfeed News reports. The teens were reportedly heading to a friend’s home to spend the night,according to WESH 2 News.
“I was racially profiled while driving through my friend’s neighborhood. They didn’t like the way I was driving, so they felt the need to hit my car with a cone, and throw a rock through my window,” Jones wrote in the original Instagram caption,according toOrlando Weekly. “All I wanted to do was de-escalate until police came, because I wasn’t about to get charges pressed on me for no reason.”
Corsi faces felony charges for damage to property and hitting a vehicle with a weapon while Hughes is charged with felony property damage and misdemeanor battery, according to Seminole County booking records.
Hughes allegedly hit one of the teens with the traffic cone, WESH 2 News reports.
Both suspects were released on bond,according toThe Daily Beast.The Washington Postreports the suspects are due back in court Aug. 16.
He also admits on the call that he “wasn’t supposed to be driving like that.”
“I was terrified and thanking God that nothing happened to my son,” Niko Jones, the driver’s mother, told WESH 2 News. “There’s no doubt in my mind that had he been white, this would not have happened to him. It had to be his skin color.”
Jones' fatherwrote in a Facebook postthat his son initially stopped and apologized to the men, who “cut him off” when he tried to leave.
“I am glad no one got hurt,” CJ Jones wrote in the post. “This will definitely leave a scar on my son’s mentality moving forward.”
“This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” Zimmerman, then 28, said in a 911 call, telling the dispatcher Martin, 17 at the time, was wearing “a dark hoodie.”
The deadly shooting led to vigils and protests around the country that continued for months and sparked anational conversation about racial profiling.
Zimmerman claimed he was defending himself under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” laws. He was acquitted of murder charges in July 2013.
source: people.com
