Armed only with his cap and his glasses. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was mistaken for a bank robber and arrested after attempting to withdraw money from his bank account on January 7.
The incident was filmed by the cameras carried by the police at the time of the arrest. In the video, broadcast by the American people site TMZ, we see the director at the counter, calm, looking at his phone when one of the two police officers present in the bank takes out his weapon and handcuffs him.
Ryan Coogler was clearly stunned when cops pulled guns on him as he tried to make a legal withdrawal from his bank account … and it was all caught on police body cam footage. pic.twitter.com/tlFWNSK5iQ
– TMZ (@TMZ) March 10, 2022
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The incident has been widely publicized while the American police are regularly accused of systematically perpetrating violence against African Americans. The death of George Floyd in May 2020 deeply shook the country.
VIDEO. Death of George Floyd: the emotion of witnesses in court
According to a police report obtained by TMZ, the director of “Black Panther,” a global phenomenon and satire of racism, walked into a city bank and handed the teller a note that read, “I would like to withdraw $12,000 l money from my current account. Please make the money count elsewhere. I would like to be discreet”.
The transaction triggered an alarm
The transaction triggered an alarm and bank staff called the police. Coogler and two others with him were arrested and later released. The director, who is currently filming the sequel to “Black Panther”: “Wakanda Forever” in Atlanta, confirmed the incident to the magazine Variety.
Coogler explains: “This situation should never have happened… However, Bank of America explained itself and solved the problem”. In a press release, the establishment expressed its “deep regrets” and indicated that it had apologized to Ryan Coogler.
Before 2018’s global blockbuster “Black Panther,” Coogler directed 2015’s Rocky spin-off “Creed,” starring Michael B Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, and his 2013 directorial debut “Fruitvale Station,” about a real-life cop murder that also starred Jordan in the lead role.
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