Seattle ‘Karen’ confronts black drone pilot of using DJI Mavic 2 Pro to film women
Meanwhile in Seattle… A white woman, later referred to as ‘Karen' when the conversation heats up, confronted a black drone pilot and real estate photographer of using his DJI Mavic 2 Pro to film women.
Seattle ‘Karen' confronts black drone pilot of using DJI Mavic 2 Pro to film women
The NY Post reports the following story after having spoken to the real estate photographer in question. The short video below shows the heated conversation between a ‘ridiculous' white woman wearing a ‘Live United' T-shirt accusing a black man hired to take aerial photos with his DJI Mavic 2 Pro of real estate properties for Redfin.
The video was shared on the Reddit thread ‘PublicFreakout' last Friday and starts of with:
“You're going to come out here cussing, saying I'm filming women, really?” the photographer says. ‘Yes!” the woman replies.
The real estate photographer tells the woman that he is hired by Seattle-based Redfin to take some aerial photos.
“I was hired and working a job, notified the homeowners that I was there and got approval to fly, not to mention I have my FFA Part 107 license to fly drones,” text in the video says.
The conversation between the two heats up quickly as racist and derogatory terms are used and ‘Karen' threatens to call Redfin.
Oh boy… pic.twitter.com/ixii57pwrw
— DroneXL (@DroneXL1) August 1, 2020
“You are ridiculous. Go home. Go home Karen, please!” the photographer says, using a derogatory term for entitled white women in social media, reports the NY Post. “Oh, because I'm black you think I'm just out here filming s—?”
In a phone interview by the News outlet, the photographer and drone pilot, Thomas Samual said that he felt that the incident in the diverse Capitol Hill area of Seattle was racially motivated.
“She accused me of being a creep and a pervert and of spying on her,” he said. “If I was white it wouldn't have escalated.”
After the incident, Samual said he waited in his car for a colleague, but soon after the woman showed up again with her companion and continued to harass him.
“Both of them said I needed to notify them before my shoot, which is not true. I know the rules. I was well within my rights,” he said.
Samual wrote in a post on Facebook on July 21st that:
“Just had this women come at me accusing me of being a criminal and a pervert/creep with my drone bc I was taking pictures of her neighbors house smh.”
“I was hired and working a job, notified the homeowners that was I was there and got approval to fly … She came out of her house cussing and imeaditely (sic) assumed the worst of me and what I was doing bc there no way a black man could actually be working and minding his own business.”
Have you ever experienced anything like this while on a commercial shoot or even when flying drones for fun? Let us know in the comments below.
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Haye Kesteloo
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I love the “meanwhile in Seattle part”😂😂😂😂
I am also a 107 pilot. Last fall, I was shooting a real estate assignment having notified the homeowners and local law enforcement prior to the operation (something I always do without fail) and a neighbor approached me very upset and confrontational while on the phone with 9-1-1 he had the phone on speaker as he rushed toward me with a menacing expression. I overheard the dispatcher tell him to calm down and that he needed to be cautious not to do anything unlawful. While this was happening, I was readying my pepper spray behind my back with my free hand. My good friend, a cop on patrol taking the report from dispatch called me on my cell and I explained the situation. Dispatch then told the disgruntled man that I was operating within the law and that he needed to leave me to my work. The man begrudgingly departed while cursing me but that was the end of the incident.