Twitter
Screengrab of a woman pointing a gun at a Black woman in Oakland County.
Oakland County prosecutors have charged a Clarkston husband and wife with felonious assault after the wife pointed a gun at a Black woman outside of a restaurant in Orion Township on Wednesday night.
The couple, Jillian and Eric Wuestenberg, has been arrested and their guns confiscated. The charges carry a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
A 1-minute video clip of the altercation was viewed more than 12 million times on Twitter as of late Thursday afternoon, leading to passionate debates on social media about what constitutes self-defense.
This happened today in Auburn Hills,MI
— 🦋Makay (@makaysmith10) July 2, 2020
Another Karen .. pic.twitter.com/lWksZwXITD
In Michigan, it’s illegal to point a gun at someone unless there is an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm. In this case, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said the woman decided to escalate the altercation by getting out of her car and pointing the weapon at the victims.
“Let’s all be the voice of calm in the storm,” Bouchard said at a news conference Thursday. “Each one of us is a human being who deserves respect.”
Oakland County Executive David Coulter said in a statement that he was “deeply disturbed” by the video.
“This behavior is unacceptable,” Coulter said. “I wholly expect the prosecutor to bring charges that reflect the severity of the incident.”
Takelia Hill, who had the gun drawn on her, said the white woman bumped into her 15-year-old daughter as they were walking to the restaurant in Orion Township at about 8 p.m. The white woman then became angry when Hill's daughter asked for an apology.
“She got the gun on me,” the mother or teen says. “Get the fuck back!” the woman with the gun responds.
“Back the fuck up!”
The woman eventually lowers the gun and leaves in an SUV.
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