‘It Was Very Suspicious’: Chase Bank Responds After a Black Man Waiting in Parking Lot for His Branch to Open Triggers Fear and a 911 Call from the Bank
A video showing a Black man who was questioned by a Tampa, Florida, police officer about why he was sitting in his car outside a Chase Bank branch on Wednesday morning went viral this week after many viewers reacted that racial profiling was at play.
The 3-minute video posted by Nic013 on TikTok begins as a casually dressed Black man sitting in a Blue Tesla is approached by an officer who tells him through an open window that employees inside the bank were “concerned” about him, as “you’re just sitting here and not doing anything.”
The man, seeming surprised, responds that he’s waiting for the bank to open at 9 am, and that he’s got a lot of business to conduct, pulling a wad of cash out of his denim shorts pocket to show the officer.
“That’s crazy, they called you over here,” he says.
“You gotta understand it’s a bank and people hanging out at the bank parking lot makes them nervous,” the officer, who is white, says, adding, “People rob people coming in and out of banks. Some people said you had alcohol —”
(The driver shows him a can of Red Bull).
“— I don’t know if they saw your Red Bull as alcohol,” the officer then offers.
“Their employees can’t even afford what I have,” the man boasts. “Why would I rob anyone?”
The officer replies, “What do you have that’s so expensive? What do you do for a living? I’m just curious.”
The man tells him he is “an Air BnB-ionnaire.”
The cop smiles and asks him how many Air BnBs he has, and the driver responds, “A lot of them. Why would I look like I’m doing something wrong?”
“You’re the only one sitting in the parking lot,” the officer says.
The Black man disagrees, pointing out another man sitting in a car across the parking lot, whom the officer says he didn’t see.
“C’mon,” says the Black man. “This is my bank. … I came to withdraw a lot of money.”
“Alright,” the officer says.
“I can’t believe it,” the Black man says. “When I see the employees — these are all their cars, and they’re kind of looking, and, ‘What is a Black guy sitting here doing in front of the bank?’ — you think I’m casing the bank out?”
“It has nothing to do with race,” the officer says.
The driver tells him that he’s from Atlanta originally, and that since arriving in Tampa, he’s “seen just how different it is.”
“How is it different?” the officer asks.
“There’s just a lot of prejudice,” the driver says.
“Ok, bud,” the officer says, and walks away.
Since the video was posted, it has been reshared and garnered thousands of views, with many people commenting that the man was racially profiled and should withdraw all of his money from Chase Bank and close his account.
Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump reposted it, commenting, “A Black man waiting for a Chase bank to open in Tampa says he was treated like a suspect instead of a customer. Banking while Black should never trigger fear, suspicion, or a police response!”
SupremeBlaqGoddess wrote on TikTok, “As a bank employee. If I get to work before the bank opens. I would naturally assume that ANY person sitting in the parking lot BEFORE THE BANK OPENS, is waiting for the bank to OPEN.”
However, a few others commenting online who said they worked at banks countered that an occupied car parked outside a bank close to opening time might trigger a call to security or to the police.
When contacted by Atlanta Black Star for comment about the incident, Tampa police sent this emailed response:
“On May 6, 2026, shortly before 8:30 a.m., the Tampa Police Department responded to the 4600 block of West Kennedy Boulevard after receiving a call of a suspicious vehicle parked in front of the bank before it opened.
An officer spoke with the car’s occupant, who said he was waiting for the business to open. That information was then shared with the bank employees.”
Tampa PD also provided body-worn camera footage from the officer involved.
Besides capturing the exchange between the Tesla driver and the officer, the video also shows what happens after the officer turns away and goes into the bank.
A Chase Bank employee, a middle-aged white man, meets the officer at the front door and says, “Thanks for coming out. It was very suspicious, and I was worried about my staff.”
The officer tells him, “There’s another gentleman sitting out there,” and points to a car outside.
“Well, he just pulled up,” the bank employee says. “This guy was here two seconds after 8:00. He appeared to have an open container.”
“Yeah, it’s a Red Bull,” says the cop, adding that the Black man outside “says he’s waiting for the branch to open, that he’s a customer.”
The bank employee steps back and laughs a bit nervously, and then mentions the bank is opening a bit late “because of what happened this morning.”
“So if you want him to leave, I can ask him to leave,” the officer says.
“Right,” the bank employee says. “Was he startled that you came up to him?”
“No,” the officer replies.
“OK,” the bank employee says, then explains the man outside had gotten out of his car while talking on his cellphone, approached the front door, and then got back in his car.
“We normally don’t see this kind of activity,” he says.
“I get it, I get your concern,” the officer says, and repeats his offer to tell the man to leave.
“No, if he’s just a regular customer,” the bank employee says, but then adds, “He went to the back part of the lot, backed his car in, didn’t pull up.”
The officer then asks him when he’s going to open the bank, and the bank employee says, “Now.”
“So I can let him know the branch is open?” the officer asks.
“Yeah,” says the bank employee.
The officer walks over to the blue Tesla, where the Black man inside lowers the window.
“The branch is open,” the officer says and walks away.
When contacted about the encounter by Atlanta Black Star, a spokesperson for Chase Bank’s southeast regional office sent this emailed response:
We are aware of the interaction at one of our Tampa-area branches this morning as employees were arriving to work. We are committed to treating all of our customers fairly and with respect and are reviewing what occurred to ensure our actions aligned with that commitment. We sincerely apologize to our customer.