Yet another viral video concerning a racially-fueled, unnecessary police call reportedly shows a white woman calling the cops on a black father because he yelled out instructions to his son from the sidelines of a soccer field.
The incident in question occurred Sunday in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Gerald Jones told WJXX that he was telling his 13-year-old son that the referee is always right and to listen to them when a field marshal in a golf cart approached him and threatened to call the police.
Maria Morales-Walther, who filmed part of the encounter, claimed Jones told the woman, “leave me alone, I am leaving I am grabbing my stuff” but she continued to engage with him. She claimed she was ejected from the game for recording the incident on her cell phone.
“I started filming because she would not leave the father alone,” Morales-Walter told NBC News, alleging that the woman never identified herself as a field attendant.
“There was no reason for her to call the cops.”
Ginger Galore Williams took to Facebook to recount an incident that she described as “Soccer While Black.” Williams, who reportedly filmed part of the incident, also claimed Jones offered to leave the field but the woman said she was calling the cops “because she no longer felt safe with his threatening behavior.”
Both witnesses confirmed that Jones never threatened the female field marshal.
Jones is seen on video providing a similar story. In the footage Morales-Walter shot, Jones is heard telling the marshal that he was talking to his son and not to the marshal.
The father—who broke down in tears during his interview with ABC News—said he believed he was being racially profiled as another father was ejected for questioning a referee’s call but police weren’t called in that instance.
Despite this, Gary Easom, president of the Ponte Vedra Athletic Association, is backing the unnamed field marshal.
“The field marshal acted appropriately and without malice to ensure the welfare of the children she is charged with protecting. Unfortunately, an incomplete narrative of this incident was posted and sensationalized, creating a wholly inaccurate and irresponsible version with little relation to what actually happened that day,” he said in a statement issued to WJXX.
“It was an unfortunate incident and I am sorry it happened, but our team acted appropriately to protect the children, consistent with our organizational mission.”
[Featured image: Facebook]