'It's probably not you, but we've got to double check': Police release video of gunpoint search of innocent black football player stopped while playing Pokemon Go in Iowa park

A video showing police searching a University of Iowa footballer at gunpoint while he played Pokemon Go - in what he described as 'the first time I've ever feared for my life' - has been released.


The footage, taken on a body camera, shows officers approaching six-foot-two defensive end Faith Ekakitie in a public park.


Ekakitie was wearing headphones, and did not understand why he was being stopped by armed police.


After being searched, the young athlete posted a viral Facebook status about last Wednesday's incident, in which he described his terror but praised the professionalism of the officers.





A short time before he was stopped, an attempted armed robbery had happened at a nearby bank, and the suspect was described as a 'large, black male who was dressed in all black and wearing something on his head'.


In the newly-released footage, a female cop is heard telling Ekakitie, who weighs 290 pounds: 'It's probably not you, but we've got to double check.'


She then tells him to turn around and not to move his hands.


A male officer, wearing body armor, is then shown taking the student's backpack off and searching him.


While Ekakitie is being searched, the female officer is heard asking a colleague: 'Do you want me to cover?'


When questioned about what he is doing, Ekakitie responded that he was playing popular reality game Pokemon Go.


He was asked to lift his shirt so police could see his waistband.


As well as the female officer wearing the body cam, four more armed cops are seen in the video.


After being searched, Ekakitie was told about the attempted robbery, and about the description police had been given.


The female officer is heard stating: 'They (the would-be robbers) were unsuccessful. Which is always good. We like unsuccessful.'


And the student told the cop: 'I would not lie to you, I was terrified.'


She replied: 'Sorry, we don't really like doing that.'





After showing his identification, a male officer is heard thanking Ekakitie for his co-operation.


The case attracted huge attention after the student posted about his experience on Facebook.


He described it as 'the first time he ever truly feared for his life'.


Sgt Scott Gaarde, from the Iowa City Police Department, toldKWWL after the footage was released: 'I think it's critical we get the information out so people can actually see the events as they actually occurred in real time.'





Ekakitie wrote: 'Today I was surrounded and searched by approximately five Iowa City Police Officers.


'My pockets were checked, my backpack was opened up and searched carefully, and I was asked to lift up my shirt while they searched my waistband.


'Not once did they identify themselves to me as Iowa City Police officers, but with four gun barrels staring me in the face, I wouldn’t dare question the authority of the men and woman in front of me.'





But he followed it up by telling the story from the officers' point of view.


The student wrote: 'All they knew was that a bank had just been robbed less than ten minutes ago. The suspect was a large black male, wearing all black, with something on top of his head and the suspect is armed.


'As they drive past an Iowa City park that was less than three minutes away from the bank that was just robbed, they notice a large black man, dressed in all black, with black goggles on his head.





'They quickly move to action and identify themselves as the Iowa City police and ask me to turn around and place my hands up.


'I do not comply, they ask again, and again no response from me. So they all draw their guns and begin to slowly approach the suspect.'


He suggested that the media would probably twist the story, not reporting that he was wearing headphones at the time he was approached.








He also said that it probably wouldn't be reported that he reached into his pocket for his phone with the police standing behind him, and could have easily thought he was reaching for a gun.


'It is extremely sad that our society has brainwashed us all to the point where we can’t feel safe being approached by the police officers in our respective communities.


'Not all police officers are out to get you, but at the same time, not all people who fit a criminal profile are criminals,' Ekakitie wrote.





Ekakitie ends his post by thanking the officers and asks people to 'unlearn prejudices'.


'I would like the thank the Iowa City Police department for handling a sensitive situation very professionally.


'I would also urge people to be more aware of their surroundings because clearly I wasn’t,' he said.