On Wednesday, Ben Faulding (@thehipsterrebbe) took to Twitter to share a story of a life-threatening encounter with the police that all started with a good workout and a bottle of conditioner.
"Here's a story about how I nearly just got killed by this cop," he tweeted, accompanied by a picture of an officer.
Here’s a story about how I nearly just got killed by this cop. pic.twitter.com/3IYZFM9Ggh
— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
In the thread, Faulding goes on to explain that he went to a store in Long Island upon completing a workout. He happened to have on noise canceling headphones with K-pop music blasting. After picking out a conditioner, Faulding turned to check out when two police officers with weapons approached him shouting commands. However, the headphones made it very difficult for him to hear.
I was walking home from the gym. and realized I needed conditioner for my wild hair. pic.twitter.com/BOiMCOxAtt
— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
I was wearing my new headphones; noise canceling. Sometimes I like to shut the world out and listen to music.
They’re dark and sometimes manage to hide in my curls. This is important later. pic.twitter.com/QiBQiovwtI— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
I looked at a couple items, like face wipes. But decided just to get her conditioner. I go to the aisle and was looking for 5 minutes before deciding on one.
I turn to go up the aisle to pay there’s a Nassau County Police officer standing there. With his weapon drawn.
— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
First he goes down another aisle. Then comes back…with another officer also with his weapon drawn.
The second officer screams at me to get on the ground. Now. I can barely hear them cuz of my headphones.— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
“What is happening?!”
I raised both hands with my right still holding the conditioner.
“JUST FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS!”
He shouted back.
“Put your hands on the ground and move them forward”— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
Trying not to panic, Faulding's thoughts went automatically to Daniel Shaver who was killed by police in Arizona in 2016:
My headphones were still blaring, I could barely hear.
“I CAN’T HEAR BECAUSE OF MY HEADPHONES. PLEASE TAKE THEM OFF. SO I CAN FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.”
All I wanted to do was follow instructions. Last thing I wanted was some mild mistake to end my life. Like with Daniel Shaver.
— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
When he was shot.
Daniel, was crawling when he was confronted by Mesa, Az police. He was murdered by an officer when he made a mistake while following instructions. pic.twitter.com/FmrycuOwCp— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
What if I missed an instruction because of the K-Pop blaring in my ears?
What if I reached for my ears and this rookie flinched?— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
Thankfully, Faulding says one of his headphones raised a bit, allowing him to hear.
One of the ear cups must have shifted because I could hear the cop yelling. As he instructed. I got on the ground and crawled my hands forward. Kind of like Shaver.
— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
They put the bracelets on and oddly enough I felt a little safer after that. I was still screaming for them to take of my headphones which they did.
They searched my pockets and gym bag. I hadn’t taken anything so I was fine. They let me go.— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
We then learn that the whole incident happened as a result of racial profiling:
That’s the scary part. Here’s. The infuriating part. The clerk at the store called the police because she thought I was shop lifting.
When Nassau County PD got the call. It was for an armed robbery.— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
Like many of us do after surviving a scary situation, Faulding began to wonder how things might have turned out if he had innocently made slightly different choices, and if he had died:
When they came in, they were looking for somebody with a gun. That’s why theirs were drawn.
The bottle of conditioner I picked out was white. What if I had picked the black bottle?
What if they had seen it wrong?— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
What if my skin was darker?
What if the cops had been a little bit jumpy?— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
If this has gone bad. I never would have told my side of the story.
Yeah, the news story would have said I was unarmed. But those four officers would have command of the narrative.— Ziggy ???? (@TheHipsterRebbe) January 3, 2018
Faulding concluded his tale happy to be alive, but with the rueful observation, "Listening to music on headphones so loud might not have been the smartest move, but it was almost deadly. And it shouldn’t have been."