Iowa Lineman Faith Ekakitie Mistaken for Robbery Suspect, Held at Gunpoint While Playing Pokemon Go

Iowa defensive lineman Faith Ekakitie shared a harrowing experience with Iowa City police officers while playing Pokemon Go last week. Ekakitie said he “feared for his life” after five officers approached him in a park while in pursuit of a suspect who had robbed a nearby bank 10 minutes earlier.

According to his Ekakitie’s account, the officers pointed their guns at him because he didn’t initially comply with requests as a result of wearing headphones.

"In this situation, what the media would fail to let people know is that the suspect had his headphones in the entire time the Police Officers approached him initially. The suspect had actually just pulled up to the park because he was playing a newly popular Game called Pokémon Go. The suspect didn’t realize that there were four cops behind him because his music was blaring in his ears. The suspect had reached into his pockets, for something which was his phone, but for all the cops could have known, he was reaching for a gun. The suspect could very well become another statistic on this day. I am not one to usually rant on Facebook or anywhere else, but with all of the crazy things that have been happening in our world these past couple of weeks it is hard to stay silent. I am thankful to be alive, and I do now realize, that it very well could have been me, a friend of mine, my brother, your cousin, your nephew etc. Misunderstandings happen all the time and just like that things can go south very quickly. It is extremely sad that our society has brainwashed us all to the point where we can’t feel safe being approached by the police officers in our respective communities. Not all police officers are out to get you, but at the same time, not all people who fit a criminal profile are criminals. So with that, I would like the thank the Iowa City Police department for handling a sensitive situation very professionally. I would also urge people to be more aware of their surroundings because clearly I wasn’t. Lastly, I would urge us all to at least to attempt to unlearn some of the prejudices that we have learned about each other and now plague our minds and our society. I am convinced that in the same way that we learned these prejudices, we can also unlearn them."

A University of Iowa spokesperson confirmed the account of events to ESPN.

Ekakitie, a senior, registered 13 tackles and a fumble recovery for the Hawkeyes last season.