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Jay Pharoah and the LAPD Show How Easily a Black Man in America End Ups with a Cop's Knee on His Neck

His workout clothes were reason enough to treat him like a violent criminal.

Comedian Jay Pharoah

Photo by Debby Wong (Shutterstock)

Comedian and actor Jay Pharoah didn't grow up with nearly as much fear of the police as many Black men in America.

The former SNL star describes himself as "a law-abiding citizen," who "grew up in the burbs" of Chesapeake, Virginia—where he was sheltered from a lot of the worst of American racism. Until this April, he had never been in a pair of handcuffs, let alone surrounded by police with their guns drawn, let alone pinned under a dogpile of LAPD officers, with one cop kneeling on his neck...

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