Iowa defensive end Faith Ekakitie had a terrifying experience last week with Iowa City Police.
In a letter Ekakitie shared on his Facebook page, he details an incident that resulted in police drawing their guns on Ekakitie as he was walking through a local park. The police had mistaken him for a suspect in a bank robbery that took place not long before the confrontation.
I'll let Ekakitie describe the incident that took place on July 20 in his own words:
"Today was the first time that I've ever truly feared for my life, and I have the media to thank for that.
"Today I was surrounded and searched by approximately five Iowa City Police Officers. My pockets were checked, my backpack was opened up and searched carefully, and I was asked to lift up my shirt while they searched my waistband. Not once did they identify themselves to me as Iowa City Police officers, but with four gun barrels staring me in the face, I wouldn't dare question the authority of the men and woman in front of me. This is what happened from my point of view.
"From the police officers point of view, all they knew was that a bank had just been robbed less than 10 minutes ago. The suspect was a large black male, wearing all black, with something on top of his head and the suspect was armed. As they drive past an Iowa City park that was less than 3 minutes away from the bank that was just robbed, they notice a large black man, dressed in all black, with black goggles on his head. They quickly move to action and identify themselves as the Iowa City police and ask me to turn around and place my hands up. I do not comply, they ask again, and again no response from me. So they all draw their guns and begin to slowly approach the suspect.
"In this situation, what the media would fail to let people know is that the suspect had his headphones in the entire time the Police Officers approached him initially. The suspect had actually just pulled up to the park because he was playing a newly popular Game called Pokémon Go. The suspect didn't realize that there were four cops behind him because his music was blaring in his ears. The suspect had reached into his pockets, for something which was his phone, but for all the cops could have known, he was reaching for a gun. The suspect could very well become another statistic on this day. I am not one to usually rant on Facebook or anywhere else, but with all of the crazy things that have been happening in our world these past couple of weeks, it is hard to stay silent. I am thankful to be alive, and I do now realize, that it very well could have been me, a friend of mine, my brother, your cousin, your nephew etc. Misunderstandings happen all the time and just like that things can go south very quickly. It is extremely sad that our society has brainwashed us all to the point where we can't feel safe being approached by the police officers in our respective communities. Not all police officers are out to get you, but at the same time, not all people who fit a criminal profile are criminals.
"So with that, I would like the thank the Iowa City Police department for handling a sensitive situation very professionally. I would also urge people to be more aware of their surroundings because clearly I wasn't. Lastly, I would urge us all to at least to attempt to unlearn some of the prejudices that we have learned about each other and now plague our minds and our society. I am convinced that in the same way that we learned these prejudices, we can also unlearn them."
Iowa City Police Sergeant Jorey Bailey confirmed that Ekakitie had been stopped by police. Thankfully, as scary as the situation had to be for Ekakitie, things did not escalate any further.
Ekakitie, a four-star recruit in Iowa's 2012 class, played in 12 games for the Hawkeyes last season, finishing the year with 13 tackles.
