Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

Police have released footage to show the full story behind a black Versace executive who accused them of racism because they stopped him for jaywalking  when he crossed on a red light.

Salehe Bembury, the fashion company’s vice president of sneakers and men’s footwear, had been filmed by an officer’s body-cam during the incident on 1st October.

The full footage from the body camera shows police being polite and saying ‘Sir’ after stopping the man for jaywalking, to which he admitted, and eventually releasing him without charge after just over three minutes of questioning and checking.

The man, apparently, does not seem to realise that the officer is also filming the incident as he asks for permission to take out his phone and after he switches it on, starts to claim that the officers are harassing him because he’s black.

When they complain about the narrative, he continues to insist that he is being persecuted.

The officer asks if there is anything they can to make it more comfortable and he says: “not really” but he says that just having the other officers there is making him feel uncomfortable.

He then starts filming saying: “OK, I am in Beverly Hills right now and I am getting f*cking searched for shopping at the store I work for.”

The officer then complains: “Now what you are doing is you are making it completely different to what we just talked about. You are making a completely different narrative.”

They then let the man go and he posted the story on Instagram, where he said: “Beverly Hills while Black. I’m OK, my spirit is not.”

In response, the police wrote: “The BHPD is sharing the following information related to an online post by Mr. Salehe Bembury on October 1, 2020.

“On October 1, 2020 at 4:46 p.m., Beverly Hills Police conducted a pedestrian enforcement stop at Camden Drive and Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills after Mr. Salehe Bembury was observed committing a pedestrian violation – VC 21456(c).

“Mr Bembury admitted to the pedestrian violation and told the officers he was looking at the GPS on his phone to determine where he was heading. The entire detention lasted about 3 1⁄2 minutes.

“Mr Bembury consented to a search, was cleared of any outstanding warrants and released with a warning. No citation was issued.

“The Beverly Hills Police Department is committed to promoting traffic and pedestrian safety and has issued 61 citations related to pedestrian violations since January.”

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