Kenosha police have opened an inquiry into a viral social media video that appears to show a White auto salesman urinating on a Black woman’s driver’s license. According to Newsweek, the video has subsequently sparked outrage on social media.
Leah Jefferson was recognized as the woman whose driving license was supposedly urinated on. In a Facebook post on Sunday, she elaborated on the interaction. She also included a video in her message.
Jefferson stated that she went to NH Car Sales in Kenosha on Sunday afternoon with the intention of purchasing a car. She stated that she called an employee, Bryan Slaven, about viewing and test-driving one of the vehicles for sale. The urinating video was apparently put on Slaven’s Snapchat account. His face, however, 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 believed to have provided the dealership her driver’s license so she could test drive the automobile. She claimed that her mother and another person witnessed her doing so. Jefferson drove the car for 30 minutes. When she returned to the dealership, she attempted to haggle the price of the vehicle as well as obtain clarification on other issues.
But, after leaving the dealership, Jefferson realized she had left her driver’s license behind. “[My friend’s mom and I] went outside to talk and concluded the vehicle just wasn’t for me,” Jefferson posted 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.
According to Newsweek, Jefferson also revealed a discussion she had with an Instagram user who informed her that he had seen the vehicle salesman seem to urinate on her license in a video. The Instagram user also informed her that he was able to contact her because her full name and address were visible on the license.
Jefferson stated that the video’s distribution left her feeling “violated” and “sick to [her] stomach.” She also expressed concern over the public’s knowledge of her home address.
Meanwhile, the Kenosha Police Department has announced the start of an inquiry into the footage. Despite the fact that the police called what transpired in the video a “disgusting act,” they begged the public to leave the situation 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.”
