Driving While Black Means You Can't Look Away From Or At A White Cop

This man was pulled over in Dayton for making "direct
eye contact" with a white police officer he drove past.  

The incident I'm about to describe isn't as infuriating as the deaths of young black people at the hands of cops, but it's almost as bad.

A black man driving a car on a recent night was pulled over by a white cop. The excuse?

Well, initially, the cop said it's because the motorist, John Felton, didn't use his turn signal soon enough before making a right had turn.

Felton DID use the turn signal, but the officer said it was less than 100 feet before making the turn.

Who in the world gets pulled over for not using a turn signal soon enough? A lot of people don't use it at all.

But the infuriating part is that the officer later says that the real reason Felton was pulled over because he made "direct eye contact" with the officer as he drove past.

Never mind that cops usually get suspicious of people when they avoid eye contact - it's a sign of nervousness and a potential signal that they've done something wrong.

Felton was in Dayton Ohio. He's from Michigan and was visiting family.

Anyway, apparently, if you're driving while black and you notice a police officer, you're supposed to simultaneously look away from and look at the cop?

To be fair, the Dayton Police Department later said it is not proper for an officer to pull over a motorist simply for not making eye contact, notes the Huffington Post.

Felton agreed to meet with the officer who pulled him over in a meeting facilitated by the Dayton Mediation Center.

Let's hope this turns into a teachable moment for certain Dayton cops.

Here's the video of the incident: