The Kenosha police have launched an investigation into a viral social media video showing a White car salesman appearing to urinate on a Black woman’s driving license. According to Newsweek, the video in question has since drawn the ire of social media.
The woman, whose driving license was apparently urinated on, was identified as Leah Jefferson. She shed more light on the encounter in a Facebook post on Sunday. She also attached the video to her post.
Jefferson said she visited NH Auto Sales in Kenosha on Sunday afternoon, adding that she was interested in buying a car. She said she contacted an employee – Bryan Slaven – about taking a look at one of the cars on sale and also test-driving it. The video of the urinating incident was reportedly posted on Slaven’s Snapchat account. But his face was not visible in the recording.
In the video, a person can be heard saying, “This is what happens. Do you want to see what else is going to happen? Think you are going to say stupid s*** to us?” The person in the video then damages the ID card before putting it on the bumper of a car. Another person then seems to urinate on the card.
Jefferson is said to have given her driving license to the dealership so she could be able to test-drive the vehicle. She said her mother and another individual saw her do that. Jefferson test-drove the vehicle for 30 minutes. And when she returned to the dealership, she tried to negotiate the cost of the vehicle and also seek clarification on other things.
But after leaving the dealership, Jefferson said she noticed she had left her driving license behind. “[Me and my friend’s mom] went outside to discuss and decided the vehicle just wasn’t for me,” Jefferson wrote on Facebook.
“We left and headed back to town [and we realized] I never got my ID back from Bryan and his counterpart. I called Bryan immediately and told him I left my ID.
“My exact words were, ‘I left my ID [so] can I cashapp you like $5 to send back to me.’ I don’t have time to just drive an hour away I made time today because I was viewing a car but I work all the time,” she added.
But Jefferson said Bryan’s response was “along the lines of, I’m not in the office right now. I don’t have your ID, and I won’t be back until Monday.” She continued: “My response back was, ‘Okay, can I call you on Monday?’ Mind you, I went out of my way to ask can I call you on Monday to get MY PERSONAL PROPERTY BACK.”
“Bryan’s response back was, ‘Yeah.’ We hung up, here I am thinking damn K don’t have my ID I cant get a drink after this non successful car lot day. Then BOOM,” she wrote.
Jefferson also provided a conversation she had with an Instagram user who informed her that he had seen the car salesman appearing to urinate on her license in a video, Newsweek reported. The Instagram user also told her that he was able to get in touch with her because her full name and address could be seen on the license.
Jefferson said the circulation of the video left her feeling “violated” and “sick to [her] stomach.” She said she was also worried about the public having information about her home address.
Meanwhile, the Kenosha Police Department has announced that an investigation into the video has been launched. And though the police labeled what happened in the video as a “disgusting act”, they urged the public to leave the handling of the incident to them.
“KPD is aware of a disgusting act of disrespect towards a persons property, a video of which is being widely shared on social media. We have been in contact with the victim and are working with that person on the investigation,” Kenosha police said in the statement.
“KPD is also aware that this video has been viewed, a lot! We are aware of the threats being made … [and] while we can understand that viewing this video causes emotional reactions, we cannot and will not tolerate any acts of violence towards those [seemingly] responsible or associated with the business or the business itself.”
