Morgantown, West Virginia – Sophomore wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton shared his experience with a law enforcement officer while he was driving back to West Virginia University today.
Ford-Wheaton said the following on his social media accounts: “As I was driving back to school today, I was followed by an unmarked car for more than 5 miles. Right out of Wytheville, Virginia. I became suspicious of the car and proceeded to drive.
I was going the exact speed limit so I didn’t know what the problem would be. The car turned on its police lights so I immediately pulled over on the side of the interstate. I had my license and registration in hand and kept my hands on the steering wheel.
The officer told me that I was being pulled over for my air fresheners hanging on my rear view mirror (apparently they are illegal in Virginia). The officer asked multiple times if I had a gun in the car. I told him no multiple times and was very cooperative. The officer told me to step out of the car and of course I did.
The officer then demanded I come to his car to get more information on me for some reason. I was extremely uncomfortable with this and told the officer but he assured me that I would be fine.
I went to the car and answered everything truthfully and to the best of my abilities. I was in the car for 30 minutes unsure of what was going to happen next. I remained calm and didn’t try to provoke the officer even though he seemed if that’s what he wanted. I told the officer I’m going back to school because I play football for WVU and he said he was going to give me a warning.”
Ford-Wheaton was obviously shaken up by the experience and continued: “What if I wasn’t a football player? I went back to my car shaking but oddly feeling grateful for being alive. It is truly humiliating and unfair that stuff like this happens everyday in this country. This is unfortunately our everyday lives.
This is why we say black lives matter because most people wouldn’t have been lucky enough to tell you this side of the story.”
Although there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the “Black Lives Matter” movement over the past several months, this is unfortunately a perfect example of why it’s so important.
— Bryce Ford-Wheaton (@Brycewheat3) December 15, 2020
