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>> IMAGINE YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO SELL YOUR COMPUTER ON
CRAIGSLIST AND YOU FIND A BUYER.
YOU MEET UP WITH THE BUYER AT A COFFEE SHOP AND WITHIN
MINUTES POLICE SHOW UP IN A STING OPERATION, TEASE YOU,
AND HANDCUFF YOU.
THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED TO JOSHUA TAYLOR AFTER HE POSTED HIS
MACBOOK PRO ON CRAIGSLIST AND COMMUNICATED WITH A BUYER
WHO WAS WILLING TO BUY IT.
THIS STORY SHOWS AN EXAMPLE OF LAZY POLICE WORK AT HOW
CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE TREATED WHEN THEY ARE JUST SELLING THEIR
ITEMS IN A LEGAL FASHION.
HE WRITES ABOUT THIS IN THE DAILY BEAST.
HIS MOM IS AN EDITOR AT LARGE AT THE DAILY BEAST.
HE MEETS UP WITH DEREK, HE SHOWS THE FEATURES, THE ITEMS
THAT COME WITH IT, AND THEN HE SAYS ñ
>> I'M SURE THAT
IS ALL COINCIDENCES.
IF YOU HAD SUSPICION OF A SPECIFIC COMPUTER, AND YOU
COULD TRACE IT THROUGH AN IP ADDRESS THEN WE ARE HAVING
A CONVERSATION.
EVEN SO, I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE TO PUT SOMEONE IN HANDCUFFS
AS YOU ARE CHECKING OUT A MACBOOK.
YEAH, HE MIGHT BE THE GUY IN WHICH CASE YOU MIGHT HAVE
TO PUT HIM IN HANDCUFFS, BUT HE MIGHT ALSO NOT BE THE GUIDE.
>> THERE ARE A LOT OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.
THIS WAS OBVIOUSLY A STING OPERATION.
THIS DEREK GUY LATER CONTACTED JOSHUA TAYLOR AND TOLD HIM
I AM REALLY SORRY.
I HAD MY COMPUTER STOLEN, IT HAD A LOT OF PRIVATE
INFORMATION ON IT. AS A RESULT I CONTACTED THE POLICE.
HE APOLOGIZED BECAUSE HE SAID IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO GO DOWN
THE WAY IT DID.
THE COPS WERE SUPPOSED TO WAIT.
THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO WAIT FOR SOME SORT OF QUEUE THAT
THIS COMPUTER WAS STOLEN.
SOME MIGHT ARGUE HOW DID THE COPS KNOW WHAT THE RACE OF
THE PERSON WAS AS HE WAS SELLING THE COMPUTER ON CRAIGSLIST?
THAT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE AS THIS WAS GOING DOWN THE
COPS WERE ALREADY THERE, THEY WERE WATCHING, AND THEY
DECIDED TO INTERVENE PREMATURELY WHICH LED TO THIS COMPLETELY
INNOCENT GUY BEING COMPLETELY HUMILIATED AT THIS COFFEE SHOP.
>> AGAIN, THESE GUYS DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW THEY ARE
BEING BIASED. THEY HAVE AN IMMEDIATE REACTION.
IF THEY SAW A HIPSTER, A GUY IN A SUIT, WOULD THEY HAVE
IMMEDIATELY GONE AND PUT THE TASER TO A GUY IN A SUIT?
YOU KNOW THAT IS LESS LIKELY.
I KID AROUND ON THE SHOW THAT IF YOU WEAR A BLAZER LIKE THIS
THERE IS ALMOST NOWHERE IN A COUNTRY THAT YOU CAN'T GO INTO.
IF YOU ARE BLACK, HURRY UP, HANDCUFFED HIM, TASER HIM.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THE GUYS WHO DID IT ARE BAD GUYS.
IT JUST MEANS THEY HAVE AN INSTINCTUAL REACTION, AND
WE TALK ABOUT THE STORY SO WE CAN GET PAST THAT BECAUSE
IT IS UNFAIR TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN THIS COUNTRY.
>> I THINK ABOUT ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT I
DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT.
THIS IS NOT A SITUATION THAT I WOULD EVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT.
IF I WAS SITTING THERE WITH DEREK, I WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE
CONCERNED THAT COPS ASSUMED THAT I WOULD HAVE STOLEN THAT ITEM.
>> NO WAY IT HAPPENS. PARTLY IT IS BASED ON RACE.
IF YOU ARE BLACK AND THE SAME OUTFIT, THE OUTFIT MATTERS,
BUT THE RACE ALSO MATTERS.
THOSE ARE THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT ARE BUILT IN THAT GET YOU A
CERTAIN KIND OF TREATMENT, RATHER THAN THE TREATMENT
WE WOULD ALL LIKE TO GET.