In news that managed to escape notice much like Wakanda, Ryan Coogler, the director of Black Panther , was wrongly identified as a bank robber back in January.
Coogler, who’s Black, addressed the awkward mistake after the Atlanta Police Department released bodycam video of the incident.
Coogler is well-known for his directorial work.
After graduating from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the Oakland native made his name with Fruitvale Station , a 2013 film about the real-life shooting death of an Oakland resident.
From there, Coogler went on to bigger-budget fare, including Creed and Black Panther .
The director was wrongly mistaken for a bank robber.
According to an incident report released by the Atlanta PD, Coogler entered an Atlanta-area Bank of America on January 7th to withdraw $12,000 from his bank account.
He gave proper documentation.
Owing to the large withdrawal, Coogler scrawled a note on the back of the deposit slip asking the teller to be discreet with the money.
“My stomach started turning,” the suspicious bank teller told police in bodycam video. “I have to protect myself. I have to protect my child.”
Coogler was incognito.
While he showed ID, Coogler may have appeared to be in disguise to the frightened teller. He was wearing sunglasses, a face mask and a hat, making it hard to ascertain his identity. It’s worth noting that both Coogler and the bank teller are Black.
He was flagged as a ‘high risk transaction.’
The teller decided to call 911 after the bank’s software flagged Coogler’s account, as often happens with transactions in excess of $10,000.
Police quickly showed up and pulled guns on the director.
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Coogler complied with police.
The mistake was quickly cleared up, but Coogler had a few things to say to the responding officers.
“She got scared when a Black dude handed her a note,” he told police. “If she’s scared, she’s got to admit that.” He also told police that they were scaring him, owing to the power imbalance. They had guns and he didn’t.
Coogler is uncuffed.
“I ain’t had guns drawn on me in awhile, bro,” he told police. “Y’all understand what I’m saying? I’m trying to get my own money out of my own account. It’s a major problem, man.”
He addressed the incident in a statement.
Following the Atlanta PD’s release of information pertaining to the incident, Coogler gave a statement to the New York Times , saying that while the incident “should never have happened,” Bank of America “worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”
No one wants to have a gun drawn on them.
It’s understandable that a Black man would bristle at police drawing their weapons on him, even if the situation was amicably resolved. Regardless, Coogler seems intent on moving on from the situation.
What do you think?
Was the bank teller right to be suspicious? Did race play a role in this incident? We want to know your thoughts, so feel free to share them in the comments section!
You can view all videos related to the incident here , and the incident report here .
