Faith Ekakitie, a defensive end for the University of Iowa, described in harrowing detail an encounter he had with police as he played ‘Pokémon Go’ in an Iowa City park last week.
The 6-foot-3, 290-pounder wrote that he was “happy to be alive” after five police officers stopped him and pointed four guns at him because he fit the description of a man who had just robbed a bank. At a time when police shootings of black men are under scrutiny, Ekakitie described the encounter from his perspective and tried to look at it through the eyes of police, too.
“Today was the first time I’ve truly feared my life,” the 23-year-old senior wrote on Facebook, “and I have the media to thank for that.”
Faith Ekakitie stopped by police at gunpoint over mistaken identity
https://t.co/V7uAgN7FPC pic.twitter.com/ln0q2lEjDo
— Glenn Erby (@thacover2) July 24, 2016