'She Sees Me As A Human': Dedham Police Officer's Post About A 'Wonderful Conversation' Goes Viral
DEDHAM (CBS) -- A Dedham police officer's post about a "wonderful conversation" he had with a black citizen is going viral. Thousands have shared Officer John Rinn's Facebook post depicting a moment of unity in the tense wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Rinn said he was typing up a report in his police cruiser when the Shayla Slyman approached and asked if they could talk.
"The very first thing she said was she told me my life matters to her," Rinn wrote. "She told me that she doesn't see me as a white cop she sees me as a human and that we are all human and we are all the same."
So I am sitting in my cruiser typing a report and this women just came up to me and asked me if she could talk to me for...
Posted by John Rinn on Thursday, June 4, 2020
Rinn said he also told her that her life matters and they hugged. They continued to talk for 20 minutes "about all that is going on in the world."
"And during those twenty minutes it wasn't a cop and citizen or a cop and a black citizen talking," Rinn wrote. "It was just two humans having a conversation."
Slyman gave Rinn a small Bible and said she'd be praying for him.
Rinn told WBZ-TV's Bill Shields that he was "glad to share with her what millions of great cops do every day."
"I'll carry that prayer card with me in my pocket every shift I work," he said. "I'm glad to put some positivity out in this world."
Slyman told WBZ-TV "it's not about skin complexion."
"His life matters. He's a human being, he needs to be respected," she said. "He's taken upon a role that has put his life in danger."