Movies Black Panther director arrested by mistake for bank robbery: “It should never have happened”

Black Panther -movie director Ryan Coogler was arrested by mistake in January on suspicion of bank robbery. Coogler was withdrawing money from a bank in Atlanta when a bank clerk called police on the scene, says The New York Times.

Coogler had handed the Bank of American bank clerk a note on the $ 12,000 account purchase, as well as a note that, according to a police report, asked the clerk to “count the money elsewhere” and hoped for subtlety.

Coogler also carried a California state ID card as well as a Bank of American debit card.

The withdrawal of more than $ 10,000 sent an alert to the clerk from the account, after which he informed his superiors Coogler was trying to rob the bank. The clerk then called the police.

On arrival police noticed a van parked in front of the bank, the driver of which said Coogler was a film director and said he was expecting this as he withdraws money from his account. The woman sitting in the car as a passenger also told police the same information.

Police arrested both the driver and the passenger and transferred them to a police car. Police then caught Coogler and brought him out of the bank in handcuffs.

However, police quickly released Coogler, as did those transferred to the police car when they discovered it was not a robbery. Police confirmed it was “a mistake made by the Bank of American and Mr Coogler had not done anything wrong”.

Coogler said he was raising money for a caregiver working for his family and asked the clerk for subtlety as he feels insecure when withdrawing cash.

“I’m trying to withdraw money from my own account,” Coogler says in a body camera video released by police. Coogler says that he used his debit card in connection with the withdrawal, entered the pin code and also showed the clerk his ID card. He wore a hat, sunglasses and a face mask.

“He was startled when the black man handed him the patch,” Coogler said. “I don’t know what else to say.” The clerk who called the police is also black, according to The New York Times.

Police also released a video in which an officer told investigators that Coogler had addressed a note, and although he had handed him his ID card, the officer had begun to harass. The clerk told his superiors that the situation felt uncomfortable.

The foreman suggested they talk to the client, but the clerk said he was afraid he had a gun and called police. The clerk added that she was pregnant, saying, “I have to protect myself. I have to protect my child. ”

In a statement on Wednesday, Coogler said “this should never have happened,” but also said he agreed with the Bank of America.

Bank of America, for its part, said in a statement: “We are very sorry about what happened. That should never have happened, and we have apologized to Mr Coogler. ”

Coogler has been filming in Atlanta Black Pantherin sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverwhich will premiere in November.

Published in 2018 Black Panther quickly became a global phenomenon and has even been called a turning point for black culture. It was the first superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture of the Year at the Oscars. The star of the movie Chadwick Boseman died of cancer in August 2020, at just 43 years old.

Filming for the sequel had to be suspended last November because of the main performer Letitia Wright needed time to recover from the injuries he received in the filming.

Black Panther films tell the story of the fictional African state of Wakanda, which is technologically advanced but isolated from the outside world.