Black couple stopped by police while driving ‘made to feel like criminals’

A black couple stopped by police because they “were driving a motor vehicle on a road” have said they were “made to feel like criminals”.

Ingrid Antoine-Onikoyi, 47, and her husband Falil Onikoyi, 50, were stopped in Ipswich on Tuesday after “glancing” at a police car parked near her mother’s house.

Mrs Antoine-Onikoyi said she started recording the encounter because she became fearful.

“I thought ‘hold on a minute, this is reminding me of something I’ve seen on the television and it’s not going to be my husband’ so I instantly pressed the button,” she told Sky News.

Mrs Antoine-Onikoyi added she thought the officers were going to ask for help before they said they wanted to see her husband’s driving licence and proof of who they were.

She continued: “I felt hurt because I thought ‘I don’t do anything wrong’.

“What does suspicious-looking mean? I picture a robber with a bag on his back, tiptoeing down a road.”

Mr Onikoyi said he felt “confused” as he had also thought the officers would be enquiring in relation to an investigation.

He added: “It quickly escalated where we felt intimidated.

“There was no excuse. There was no reasonable reason given other than we drove past and looked at them.”

Mr Onikoyi said: “I think I felt harassed as to the rationale behind it. Exposed, because it was open near where we live and everyone could see what was going on.

“And made to feel like a criminal, basically.”

Mr Onikoyi, who owns a BMW, said he later felt the police deemed them to be suspicious because he is a “black person driving a car of a certain marque”.

In the footage of the encounter, a female officer made an apparent reference to the Black Lives Matter movement as she said: “You have turned something irate that shouldn’t be. You are just jumping on the bandwagon of the current climate.”

A male officer then told the couple “you look suspicious”.

Mr Onikoyi said on Friday: “I mentioned profiling is an issue, I didn’t mention anything around Black Lives Matter.”

Mrs Antoine-Onikoyi added: “It’s not our initial reaction to say ‘oh they’re racist’, we don’t really do that.

“But with this incident for some reason it felt a lot different.”

In the clip, the male officer was also heard saying: “At the end of the day, whether it looks funny or not, you were driving a motor vehicle on a road, so therefore I am requiring you to require proof of driving (licence).”

Mrs Antoine-Onikoyi told him: “You are kidding us right now. You can see why people get upset.”

The officer replied: “All that I need is proof that you are the driver of that vehicle and you live here, and we are gone.”

The couple, from Watford, had been staying at her mother’s house while their own home was renovated.

Suffolk Police issued an apology yesterday after the couple’s daughter Maja posted the video on Twitter.

The force said: “Suffolk Constabulary is aware of the video circulating on social media involving two of our officers.

“Having looked at the issues raised by a large number of people, particularly regarding certain comments which were made on the video, we would like to apologise for the offence these have caused.”

It continued: “The constabulary is very aware of the depth of feeling surrounding the events of the last few weeks and the issue of racism in our society.

“We always try to ensure we police all our communities with dignity, respect and fairness. Where those values are not met we will do everything we can to learn from that.”

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If you would like to be part of our virtual audience, and have a chance of putting a question to our panel, please send your name, location and question to newsdebates@sky.uk

(c) Sky News 2020: Black couple stopped by police while driving ‘made to feel like criminals’