The Mannequin Challenge usually shows people acting out an outrageous scene in good fun — a gymnastics team posing mid-tumble, passengers on a plane stopping mid-flight, a comedian pausing during an intense workout — but this one is a lot more serious.
A new Mannequin Challenge orchestrated by Black in Blue Film plays out scenes of police shootings and brutality. It was directed by comedian and YouTube personality Simone Shepherd, who said the post has been removed from Facebook but that she will “just keep reposting it.”
It starts with intensity: We hear a police officer say, “I told him to get his hands up!” We see a white police officer pointing his gun into a car where a black man is sitting next to his girlfriend — with all of the actors frozen in place. It is a recreation of the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, whose death in July brought nationwide outrage.
The rest of the challenge tells the stories of Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, and Trayvon Martin, then shifts to show Black Lives Matter protesters. We hear Malcolm X’s famous Organization of Afro-American Unity Founding Rally speech from 1964. Colin Kaepernick taking a knee also makes an appearance.
The video ends to the sound of a heart monitor going dead.
Instead of the usual Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” ft. Gucci Mane song playing in the background, the video uses audio specific to each story.
Black in Blue Film, a start-up production company, says it seeks to provide the “perspective of lives, both in front and behind the trigger.” Torrei Hart is also credited with a role in the challenge.
9 People Fired or Suspended for Black Lives Matter Comments (Photos)
In light of the recent fatal shootings of Keith L. Scott and Terence Crutcher and the subsequent protests, TheWrap looks back at the people who expressed their grievances on social media during the Dallas shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling and the demonstrations that followed. Here are 9 individuals whose voices were heard -- and who got in trouble for it.
Nate Weekley, a Detroit detective, was demoted to officer after posting on Facebook that "the only racists here are the piece of s--- Black Lives Matter terrorists and their supporters," reported the Detroit News.
The Daily Mail reported that Weekley's brother, Joseph Weekley, was a cop who was charged with involuntary manslaughter after accidentally killing a 7-year-old black girl during a raid.
Facebook
The first black Miss Alabama, Kalyn Chapman, was placed on administrative leave from her job at a South Florida PBS station after she posted a video in which she called the Dallas sniper a "martyr."
In her video she stated: "I'm dealing with a bit of guilt" because "I value human life. And I want to feel sad for them, but I can't help but feeling like the shooter was a martyr."
TheWrap
She later told news outlet WPMI that what the shooter did "was wrong, period," adding, "maybe martyr wasn’t the right word but it was what came to mind at that time.”
Fox
Charles Beau Menefee lost his job as a news producer at CBS46 in Atlanta after a slew of Facebook posts, including one in which he said "it would be cool if someone rained gunfire down on to the ignorant human turds at the next #blacklivesmatter March."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A South Carolina fire captain, Jimmy Morris, was fired after saying that he was going to run over Black Lives Matter protestors on Facebook, The State newspaper said. The Miami Herald reported that two other firefighters were fired in association with Morris' post.
Facebook
An Overland Park, Kansas police officer was fired after posting a menacing comment on a woman's Facebook photo, according to local channel KCTV.
A North Carolina deputy, Andrew Sutton, was suspended after joking on Facebook about killing people and calling Black Lives Matter followers "ignorant blind sheep."
ABC13
A Tennessee deputy, Jeremy McNary, was suspended after saying Black Lives Matter protestors should be hosed for blocking a highway, according to the New York Daily News.
Facebook
McNary's uncle told the Daily News that his nephew had served in the Marines and that he is not a racist nor bad cop, referencing a time he saved a child from drowning.
New York Daily News/Facebook
Diane Amoratis, a Jefferson Health employee, condemned Black Lives Matter protestors and praised police for dealing with a "fat, braided hair, piece of s--- troublemaker..." Philly.com reported. She added that a BLM protest should have been "bulldozed."
Jefferson Health ended up posting that "the individual is no longer at Jefferson."
Philly.com
Sgt. Derek Hale, a Louisville corrections sergeant was suspended after posting a contentious Facebook meme, according to WDRB. It featured an officer with the words: "If we really wanted you dead all we’d have to do is stop patrolling your neighborhoods... and wait."
BLM opponents suffered consequences for airing grievances after the protests
In light of the recent fatal shootings of Keith L. Scott and Terence Crutcher and the subsequent protests, TheWrap looks back at the people who expressed their grievances on social media during the Dallas shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling and the demonstrations that followed. Here are 9 individuals whose voices were heard -- and who got in trouble for it.