A woman in Chicago, Illinois, noticed that a police officer began following her on the way home. The cop parked his cruiser in front of the woman’s house, and when she asked why he was following her, he answered, “Because I can.”
Yareli, also known as Yareli Love online, shared her encounter with the cop online. She is a popular Chicago-based content creator who often posts short video selfies and clothing photos, mostly on Instagram. The clip attached above quickly became her second-biggest ever on TikTok, garnering 568,400 views, 73,900 likes, and close to 4,400 comments in less than a day.
The Illinois woman began recording on her phone after she arrived home. A police cruiser could be seen parked right in front of her. Its headlights were on, and an unidentified police officer was standing right next to the open driver’s door. She began confronting the cop.
“Why are you following me? You don’t need to follow me. What was the reason? Why are you following me?” she asked.
‘Because I Can’
During the minute-long interaction, the police officer failed to provide a reason, at one point even saying that he didn’t need to give her a reason at all. During the argument, the only statement he could conjure that could somehow explain his following of the woman was, “Because I can.”
Yareli was having none of it as she accused the officer of abuse of power. She continued, “No, you can’t just follow me in here. Why? Who are you? Why are you trying to follow me? You’re weird. You’re just weird. Like I said, you don’t have a valid reason why you’re following me. That’s weird. I’m asking you why.”
Eventually, the Illinois woman walked away from the officer, calling him “goofy” and asking him, “Please, get the [expletive] out of my face.” Up to the very last second, the officer continued to argue that he could follow her without a reason and, if there was a reason in the first place, he wasn’t required to provide one.
Reactions
The video sparked multiple heated responses from viewers who found the cop’s behavior completely inappropriate. One said, “That’s called stalking.” Another one commented, “Cops are completely out of control.”
Others believed Yareli needed to take action against the cop. One wrote, “Girl, that’s a lawsuit!” Another one added, “Hire an attorney.” A third one said, “Get his vehicle number and report him.”
Yarli has not commented on the situation or provided an update after uploading the clip. She did, however, like a photo of the cruiser’s license plate. Whether she will pursue legal action against the police officer is yet to be seen.
