One man tried a new tactic to defuse the Charlotte riots: Free hugs
He’s given free hugs at Donald Trump rallies and on random streets. But last night he tried something more difficult: the protests in Charlotte over a black man’s death.
And he didn’t discriminate either; the peace activist offered hugs to both police officers and protestors alike, and he wasn’t always thanked for it.
An intense video starts out with Ken Nwadike giving hugs to a couple of police officers, who clearly appreciate the gesture. That spurs aggressive and expletive-laced jeers from a crowd of protestors.
But rather than react in anger, Nwadike fights to make them understand. He points at the police officers and says, “none of these people here shot anyone,” and tells the protestors they shouldn’t judge all police officers by the action of one officer, just like no one should judge black people by the action of one black person.
“I see them as human beings, just like I see everybody on this side as human beings. We’re all human beings,” Nwadike tells the protestors. “This uniform doesn’t make him a robot, just like your uniform, your skin color, doesn’t make you a criminal. That’s what I need people to understand.”
Protests have broken out in Charlotte after Keith Lamont Scott was killed by a police officer. Police accounts said he was reaching for a gun when he was shot, while his family insists he was reading a book in his car.
Multiple protestors yelled at Nwadike, asking why he would take the police officer’s side as a black man. Nwadike insists that he’s neutral and he just wants to try to help the issue with love and peace.
“This man gave me a hug, and he wants to fight me because of that,” Nwadike tells one man. “How does that make sense, spreading more hate into the world?”
After some of his explanations, the crowd around him is visibly calmer and one woman who started off yelling at him is now offering hugs to others as well. A police officer comes over to hug him again and talks to him in low tones, but the words “thank you” are audible.
Nwadike tries to spread his message throughout the video, with varying success. He gets people to back up from police and tries to keep others from being arrested. Other parts of the video show tear gas, and gunshots are heard. But Nwadike keeps speaking with people and filming protestors trying to talk about the problem with police officers without violence.
“The way we’re going to fix this problem is to get rid of fear, is to get rid of hatred,” Nwadike said. “If we get rid of fear and hatred there will be more love in the world.”
Watch the full video below (warning, lots of foul language):
This story was originally published September 22, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "One man tried a new tactic to defuse the Charlotte riots: Free hugs."