A series of videos circulating on social media has captured the disturbing harassment of a Black teenager by four white men in a Sarasota, Florida neighborhood. The clips, posted by Whitney Portela, show her 18-year-old son being followed and aggressively questioned as he walks through the residential community. The incident, which took place shortly after Hurricane Milton swept through the area, has drawn widespread attention, amassing over four million views on TikTok overnight.
According to Portela, her son left their home to make a phone call to his girlfriend, as their house had no power and limited cell service due to the hurricane. As the teen strolled through his own neighborhood, he was quickly accosted by the group of men, who appeared to also live in the area. They began following him, demanding to know where he lived and why he was walking around.
In one of the videos, the men can be heard making accusatory comments. “You’ve been past my house four times, I don’t know you, I’ve never seen you before,” one man says. Another adds, “Do you live out here?” The teen calmly responds, “I’m a part of the neighborhood,” but the harassment continues, with the men implying that he had approached one of their wives. Throughout the ordeal, the teenager maintains his composure, asserting that he has the right to walk in his neighborhood.
The harassment lasted more than ten minutes, according to Portela. In a separate clip, one of the men exits a white sedan and appears to retrieve something from the passenger seat before attempting to charge at the teen. Another man intervenes, holding him back. Viewers of the video speculated that the man may have been armed, though the footage does not clearly show a weapon.
Portela expressed her gratitude that her son had recorded the incident, which she said could have escalated further. “I am so happy he recorded every moment, and thankful my child is still here,” she wrote in a TikTok post. “I do not want to live in a community that does not welcome me and my children because of the color of our skin.”
As the teen walked, a Sarasota County sheriff’s deputy pulled up in a marked vehicle. The teen approached the officer, pointing out the men who had been trailing him, and asked whether their behavior constituted harassment. The video ends before the outcome of this interaction is revealed, leaving viewers questioning the next steps.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office quickly responded to the viral videos, posting a statement on Facebook acknowledging the incident and confirming that detectives were investigating. The office asked anyone with information to come forward. “We are aware of a video circulating on various social media platforms of an incident that occurred in the Skye Ranch neighborhood,” the post reads. “Detectives have been assigned and are actively locating and interviewing witnesses.”
Community leaders, including the president of Sarasota’s NAACP chapter, Trevor Harvey, have expressed deep concern over the incident. Harvey described the footage as “very disturbing,” noting the broader context of racial tensions in the country. “It’s sad that we can’t even walk in our neighborhood and not be harassed by someone who doesn’t look like us because they think we don’t belong,” he said. “It is a clear representation of what’s happening in our country.”
Harvey also drew comparisons to the tragic case of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was followed and fatally shot while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood in 2020. “These men need to be held accountable,” he said, emphasizing the importance of addressing racial profiling and harassment to prevent such tragedies from repeating.
The incident has sparked an outpouring of support for the teenager and his family, with many social media users urging them to press charges. Commenters expressed both outrage and sympathy, with one person writing, “I can’t imagine how scared he must have felt in this moment.”
As the investigation continues, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the NAACP are working together to ensure accountability. Meanwhile, the viral videos have reignited discussions about the ongoing challenges faced by Black Americans in their own communities, particularly in areas where they are viewed as outsiders based on the color of their skin.
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