Viral video shows Black teen harassed by white men in Florida neighborhood

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A series of viral videos have sparked an investigation by police after a group of white men followed and harassed a Black teen as he walked through his Sarasota, Florida neighborhood.

Black teen harassed in Sarasota Florida

The teen, who has not been publicly identified, had gone for a walk on October 10 to speak to his girlfriend on his cellphone after Hurricane Milton left their area without power and limited cell service, according to his mother, Whitney Portela, who shared the footage on TikTok and Facebook.

The video shows the group of white men harassing the teenager about what he was doing in the neighborhood, saying he “doesn’t belong” and they have “never seen” him before as they followed him for blocks.

At one point, one of the men could even be seen getting out of his white BMW and apparently try to grab something out of the car before he is stopped by another neighbor who accuses him of ‘harassing’ the teen.

The men only seemingly back down when a sheriff’s vehicle arrives on the scene.

How the altercation started

The harassment seemed to begin with a group of men asking if the teenager was part of the neighborhood.

“I’ve never seen you before and you’re walking around my house,’ a man in a gray shirt says. ‘You’ve walked past my house four times and I don’t know you.”

But the teen affirms to the men, ‘I’m a part of the neighborhood.’

One of the men then accuses him of approaching his wife.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” the teenager replies. “And I think I can walk around my neighborhood.”

He proceeds to accuse the men of harassing him.

In another four-minute long video, which Portela posted to TikTok in its entirety on Tuesday, begins with her son saying, “They’re still following me, what the f***?” as he shows the group of white men walking over his shoulder and another man riding his bicycle to his left.

“This is stupid,” he says, before speaking into his camera.

“Hey they ain’t never seen a black n***** still in the hood,” the teenager alleged.

Investigation

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening that it was investigating the complaint filed by the young man’s mother.

“The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is aware of a video circulating on various social media platforms of an incident that occurred in the Skye Ranch neighborhood on Thursday, Oct. 10. Detectives have been assigned and are actively locating and interviewing witnesses in what appears to be an altercation involving neighbors and a male subject who was recording himself as he was walking. The Sheriff’s Office takes these matters seriously and will fully investigate any allegations of criminal activity,” the SCSO post reads.