LOS ANGELES: "Avengers: Endgame" star Don Cheadle has opened up about his experience with law enforcement in the US, saying he has been stopped by the police countless times. The actor has been one of the most vocal voices against police brutality in the US.
The country has seen widespread protests over the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During his virtual appearance on Jimmy Fallon's show, the 55-year-old actor said that he didn't truly understand racial discrimination until he moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to the suburbs.
"That was when a lot of bullying started when I was at school, and it definitely predicated on race. That's when it started to be clear that the cops were not on 'Team Don' and there was a different treatment," Cheadle said.
He further said that there have been many moments when he has even had "guns put to my head". "I got stopped more times than I can count and guns put to my head. I always fit the description...I used to finish their sentences. They'd go, 'We're stopping you because...' and I'd go, 'Fit the description.I know'," the actor added.
Given his own experiences, Cheadle said the killing of Floyd didn't come as a surprise to him."This is not something that was new to me, once all these videos started coming out. Things that we knew very well were happening.They just weren't being filmed," he added.