A message of hope from the frontlines.
Recently, he pulled over a black teen for texting while driving. But when the officer walked up to the boy’s window, he was shocked at the boy’s reaction to his uniform. The teen was obviously terrified, which is very understandable considering the current strained relationship between African Americans and police.
#2 McMillan Wrote About The Interaction On Facebook.
“I pulled a car over last night for texting and driving. When I went to talk to the driver, I found a young black male, who was looking at me like he was absolutely terrified with his hands up.”
“He said, ‘What do you want me to do officer?’ His voice was quivering. He was genuinely scared.”
“I just looked at him for a moment, because what I was seeing made me sad. I said, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“In which he replied, with his voice still shaking, “Do you want me to get out of the car. …”
#3 McMillan Continued:
“… I said, ‘No, I don’t want you to text and drive. I don’t want you to get in a wreck. I want your mom to always have her baby boy. I want you to grow up and be somebody. I don’t even want to write you a ticket. Just please pay attention, and put the phone down. I just don’t want you to get hurt.'”
“I truly don’t even care who’s fault it is that young man was so scared to have a police officer at his window. Blame the media, blame bad cops, blame protestors, or Colin Kaepernick if you want. It doesn’t matter to me who’s to blame. I just wish somebody would fix it.”
#4 The Message Went Viral.
McMillan made that lengthy Facebook post before bed, and was shocked to see it had gone viral when he woke up. Now, it has more than 100,000 shares and thousands of comments.
#5 McMillan Had More To Say, So He Shared A Second Message:
“This morning, I felt frustration and sadness at seeing a young African American kid be terrified of the uniform I was wearing. It bothered me so much, I wanted to just scream at the whole country ‘STOP IT! I LOVE MY KIDS WITH ALL OF MY HEART AND EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD IS SOMEONES CHILD THAT THEY LOVE WITH ALL THEIR HEART! Just treat everyone like you would want your children treated, NO MATTER what the situation is. …'”
“Everyone was thanking me for what I had said, that it so many people just wanted to hear someone say ‘IT’S HORRIBLE FOR PEOPLE TO BE AFRAID OF THE POLICE, and I don’t even care who’s at fault. It’s just horrible!’ I had over 100 friends request from people all over the country. …”
“Again, I don’t even know what to say. I’m just a regular person, no better than anyone else. To think that just saying how the situation in this country hurt me from a view on the front lines, could have such meaning to so many people, is so touching, I don’t know how to put it in words.”
