'SNL' Star Jay Pharoah Shares Video Of Police Brutalizing Him On Week Before Ahmaud Arbery's Death
Saturday Night Live alum Jay Pharoah came dangerously close to having his own "jogging while Black" incident in Los Angeles this past February, one week before Ahmaud Arbery's death.
The comedian is sharing horrifying video of the incident, in which police accosted him on the street, forced him to lay on the ground spread-eagle and put a knee to his neck, all because he "fit the description" of a Black male suspect wearing grey.
According to TMZ, Pharoah "says he was getting exercise, wearing noise-canceling headphones, when he saw the cops approach. He thought whoever they were after was in big trouble ... and then it dawned on him -- they were after him."
Pharoah shared a video of the incident on Friday night, and it backs up his account. In it, you can see two cops approach the actor from behind, with guns drawn, then a patrol car pulls up and another cop exits with his gun drawn.
Jay was handcuffed, and with a knee to the neck, as he urgently tried explaining he was not the guy they were looking for. He told the cops to Google him, saying, "You will see that you made a big mistake." He says the cops released him "a minute later."
Pharoah says he "didn't experience racism in America" until this incident.
"I'm still here to tell my story," Pharoah says, adding that he could have easily ended up like Ahmaud Arbery or George Floyd. He says as Black men, "we have the knowledge and we have the power to overthrow," adding, "I'm Jay Pharoah, and I'm a Black man in America and my life matters. Black lives always matter."
Watch the powerful video in full, below: