With everything going on in the world right now, it’s refreshing to see a moment of genuine compassion. After all, hate and vitriol is simply no use to anybody, right? With this in mind, a viral clip is making the rounds right now, and it centers on an interaction between a police sergeant in New Orleans and his nephew. Allegedly, the young man in the video below was detained after a fight broke out during the Mardis Gras celebrations on Tuesday. Instead of showing his anger and frustration at his nephew, the police officer gave his nephew a hug in a deeply moving moment of empathy.
The opening footage sees the nephew handcuffed and leaning against the back of a police cruiser, while his uncle — a police sergeant — talks to him sternly. Red and blue flashing lights glimmer around them, indicating further police presence, and there’s a low hum of chatter in the background. Due to this, it’s difficult to make out what’s being said. But from the body language of the pair, it’s clear that the uncle — at first, anyway — is very disappointed with his kin.
After a few serious words, and with the nephew emphatically shaking his head several times at what the officer says to him, as if he’s saying that he’ll never do what he did again, another police officer comes over and uncuffs the young man. At this point, you can see the sergeant’s face more clearly, and it’s plain to see that he’s visibly upset. Not only are his eyes wide, staring into his nephew’s eyes in a bid to show the gravity of the situation, but the young man’s body language suggests that he is regretful of his actions and behavior.
In a stirring and deeply emotional moment, however, the sergeant brings his nephew in for a warm hug, and it’s clear that the youngster is absolutely overwhelmed with emotion. The officer kisses his brother’s son on the top of his head in one of the most emotive snippets of footage I’ve seen for a long time. The duo hug it out until the clip comes to a close.
Of course, with the footage snowballing across social media right now, here are some choice comments from across the internet:
“Love covers a magnitude of sin right there 👏 these kids need tough love and direction and most importantly a father figure” (ben_mbaria)
“Worlds too full of hate. We need more hugs” (Anteater4746)
“Reminds me of that scene in fight club “big bob”” (Dry_Topic6211)
Due to much poverty and its complex history, the city of New Orleans is sadly a hotbed of systemic racism. Hopefully, with understanding, education, and — like this video clip highlights — some much-needed compassion, meaningful change can occur and really make a difference to peoples’ lives.
