#MovingInWhileBlack.
That hashtag is trending after a black former White House aide was detained by police last week when one of his new neighbors called 911 to report a break-in as he moved into his apartment.
Darren Martin, who served as an aide to President Barack Obama, was moving into his new building on New York’s Upper West Side Friday when police officers showed up. Martin, a Bronx native, moved back home this past winter to take a job working for the New York City government.
According to the Washington Post, officers arrived at the building on 106th Street, near Columbus Avenue, around 11:26 p.m.
"I don't know if they watched me or saw me through a peephole and decided to call the police, and if they were in fact watching me," Martin, 29, said of the 911 caller. "What I do know is true is that they made a call, a very egregious call, that I think was based on profiling."
Racial profiling has become a big issue across the country following a series of high-profile incidents, including the arrest of two black men on April 12 at a Philadelphia Starbucks. The men were accused of trespassing because they sat down and hadn't bought anything.
The men were waiting for a friend to meet them for a business meeting. The arrests gained national prominence after another customer recorded the incident.
In Martin's case, he streamed the encounter live via Instagram and later shared it across his social media accounts. He titled the recording his "unexpectedly expected, unwelcome welcome to my new apartment in New York City."
“I’m moving from D.C., I’m sweating right now at my apartment,” says Martin, who sounds slightly out of breath and is wearing a tank top. “But, you know, can’t go nowhere without the cops following me. You know how it is.
“I’m moving into my own apartment, and somebody called 5-0 on me.”
The camera pans to show several moving boxes on the floor around Martin, along with someone who appeared to be a friend helping him move. At least two officers are seen on camera as well.
Martin goes on to say that there are apparently certain times to move into an apartment in the city. He was moving in late at night. He later told the Post that because of his busy schedule, that night was the only time he could make the move from Washington.
“Somebody called the cops on me in my own building,” he says in the livestream, looking around at the officers gathered. “About how many of y’all? About six of y’all showed up, rolled up on me.”
The video shows Martin being detained in the downstairs area of the building. When he asks if he can go upstairs to check on his friends in the apartment, he is told he cannot.
One officer cites an investigation.
“What are you guys investigating?” Martin asks.
As the livestream continues, a follower watching the encounter offer advice, such as "be nice" to the officers.
“Don’t be combative,” the woman writes.
Martin asks who called the police, but the officers decline to say who called 911.
“Somebody called us,” one officer says.
“Somebody in the building or somebody who saw a black man moving his stuff?” Martin asks.
Another officer holds out a police radio, on which a dispatcher can be heard saying that the caller reported someone trying to break into a door.
“Trying to break into my own apartment,” Martin says incredulously.
The dispatcher says that the person reported seeing “possibly a weapon or a large tool.”
“Oh my God,” Martin says.
“So now you know why we’re here,” one officer says.
“I know why y’all are here,” Martin says.
The officers eventually left after they determined he and his friends were in the building legitimately.
The encounter left the 29-year-old incensed. Along with the video, he shared his story on Twitter, where he mused on the incident.
"I gotta say, moving up a 5th floor walkup is tough, but each of those 100-plus steps becomes increasingly grueling with the thought that you're feared or just not wanted in the building," he wrote.
“I guess next time I’ll wear a suit.”
Martin also spoke out to local media about his experience.
"I didn't really think anyone was going to call the cops on me because, I mean, I was moving into the building," Martin told New York's WPIX.
Though upsetting, the incident did not surprise him, Martin said. He cited not only his skin color, but also the gentrifying of the neighborhood, which is near Harlem, as a factor leading to the 911 call.
He said he hopes that the neighbor who called the police can learn from the mistaken assumption.
"The broader message to everyone is, 'Get to know folks before you make these assumptions,'" Martin told the news station. "When you make that call, there's no turning back.
“And it could have ended very differently.”
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