A viral video caught a white man accusing a younger Black man of stealing a bicycle before grabbing him by the neck in Milwaukee's south side.
"This kid over here, one of his friends stole a bike right out of a friend of mine's yard," the white man said while on the phone in the footage. Deangelo Wright, who recorded the October 10 incident, intervened by taking the white man's hand away from the Black man's throat.
The white man responds by seemingly flipping off Wright as the Black man frantically explains he didn't do anything wrong. The vigilante is also standing right behind the Black man, locking his legs on the rear bike wheel. A couple of kids defended the bicyclist's innocence.
“Just looking at it, it just looked like he was choking a kid. It was sad and very upsetting,” Wright told WISN. "He was shaking. He didn’t really know what was going on like he was confused. I was telling everyone, 'God puts you in the situation for a reason,' and I think that was for that young man’s sake."
Ricky Hale, who says he's the man's uncle, confirmed the victim has a disability.
"Why would you come out in the middle of the street and choke?" Hale told FOX 6. "He's just a person who has a disability. He didn't deserve that. He never said he stole the bike."
The distressing moment led to protestors storming the streets and demonstrating outside the white man's home.
"That is a dangerous person," community activist Vaun Mayes said. "Stuff like that is happening all over the country; people playing vigilante. We saw what happened with Ahmaud Aubrey and all these different cases and we definitely don't want that type of stuff happening here in Milwaukee."
Police told WISN they were "aware of a video that has been circulating on social media sites. The individuals involved in the video have been identified." Authorities said a 62-year-old man detained a 24-year-old man for allegedly taking a bicycle. No injuries were reported.
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