Plano Police Faces Backlash For Not Stopping Man Who Confronted Black Protesters During Protest Over Marvin Scott III Death

Texas police department is now under fire after a video surfaced showing a white officer letting a white man off hook after he seemingly attempted to swing at Black Lives Matter protesters according to the Dallas Observer. The incident took place in Frisco, Texas, after protestors stopped traffic while protesting the death of Marvin Scott III. Scott, 26, passed away while in police custody at Collin County Jail in Texas on March 4, 2021. Scott was reportedly pepper-sprayed and had a spit mask, a covering with netting fabric designed to prevent a person from spitting on officers. Scott was initially arrested for having less than two ounces of marijuana on him.

Dr. William Rohr, the medical examiner in Collin County, said Scott’s death was caused by “fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement.” His death was ruled a homicide that occurred “during restraint struggle with law enforcement.” After the incident, seven officers were fired, and one resigned.On May 2, residents marched through Plano and Frisco, Texas, to honor Scott during which traffic stopped as the protesters marched toward the parking lot of a Plano Chick-fil-A. The demonstration were soon interrupted by a white man, wearing a navy shirt and sports sunglasses, cursing at them. The video footage captured the unidentified man walking up to a Plano officer standing at the intersection and demanded  he “get these fucking people out of the way.”

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The man was later seen walking toward a Black woman and which he then appears to swing at her and drop her cell phone. People quickly swarmed around the woman and another man, the Dallas Observer identified as Scott’s family lawyer, Lee Merritt. The white man then puts his right fist on Merritt’s chest while holding up his left fist to strike the attorney. Then a police officer tried to redirect the man in the opposite direction. While the man continued to scream, “Get them out of here!” before heading back to his car. The man was allowed to leave the scene.

Local activist Hava Johnston told the news outlet she believed the man should have been arrested as soon as authorities saw him damaging the woman’s property. Johnston claims that the man had a weapon on his hip, “The question is: Why wasn’t that guy treated the same way that a person of color would have been treated?”