Ryan Coogler

Body cam footage of the incident shows the "Black Panther" director handcuffed inside a bank.

A Bank of America spokesperson told ET Canada: “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. “This situation should never have happened. I’d like to be discreet.”

The director of "Fruitvale Station" and "Black Panther" was running a mundane errand in Atlanta—and ended up in handcuffs.

Over the past couple of days, from the momentary comfort and tenuous security of my home in Oakland, I’ve watched the Coogler video. But being “weird” and from California is not a crime, even in the state of Georgia. An errand to the bank shouldn’t trigger trauma or the anxiety that comes from being labeled, misjudged, and placed in handcuffs. Thankfully, the consequences of the incident, chalked up as “a mistake” by a bank teller, weren’t dire. Coogler’s Fruitvale Station still haunts us, a reminder that violence against Black bodies is an ever-present threat during interactions with the police. It didn’t matter that he went to both St. Mary’s and USC. All of that history and hard work became irrelevant when Coogler walked into that bank. He is handcuffed and placed in the back of an officer’s vehicle. Democratic state representative Park Cannon was arrested last year for knocking on the door of a fellow lawmaker’s home. A Black man walks into a Bank of America branch in Atlanta. He is wearing sunglasses and a sweatshirt, a work badge with his picture hanging in plain view on his right hip, and an N95 mask over his mouth and nose. Whereas white people can literally climb the walls of a federal building and create chaos with relatively little consequence for nearly everyone involved, Black people are only freely “allowed” and “permitted” into a seemingly endless array of spaces only when they’re deemed useful. But she did notice that it was a California ID, and described Coogler as “acting weird.” I get it. Otherwise, Black people are all-too-frequently considered a threat for wanting and having something of our own, or simply some space to ourselves.

Film director Ryan Coogler was briefly handcuffed and detained by police in Atlanta in January after being mistaken for a bank robber.

I’d like to be discreet.” Police told Coogler that they were responding to a call of a bank robbery and explained to him that it was within their appropriate precautions to detain him and the two others he was with and ask questions and clarify later given the nature of the alleged crime, according to the AP. Coogler, a 35-year-old Black man, had entered a Bank of America branch in the city’s upscale neighborhood of Buckhead on Jan. 7 and had passed the bank teller a withdrawal slip with a note on the back asking her to be “discreet, when handing him the cash,” according to a police report, the Associated Press said.

Police determined the whole thing was a mistake by the teller and Coogler 'was never in the wrong'

Police determined the whole thing was a mistake by the teller and Mr. Coogler “was never in the wrong,” the report says. The film was nominated for best picture; Mr. Coogler shared in the honour as one of the film’s producers. When she explained Mr. Coogler wanted US$12,000 and the transaction made her feel uncomfortable, her manager suggested going to talk to him, she told officers. When she asked for his ID and he gave her a California ID, she said the transaction seemed odd and her “stomach started turning.” Still sitting in the back of the police SUV, Mr. Coogler is seen on video looking down and shaking his head as the officer explains. Work on the sequel has been happening in Georgia. The film is scheduled for release in November of this year. The acclaimed Hollywood director explained to the officers that a medical assistant who works for him prefers to be paid in cash. The officer detained both the driver and passenger in the back of a police vehicle but they were not placed in handcuffs. Body-camera video released by police shows officers approaching Mr. Coogler from behind as he stands at the counter wearing a light grey hooded sweatshirt, a black cap, sunglasses and a white mask. When her computer notified her that it was a high-risk transaction, she went to speak to her manager. The bank employee is a Black woman, the report says. A female passenger gave police the same information.

Yesterday it was reported that Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was detained by police after he was mistakenly accused of trying to rob a Bank of America ...

Coogler said in a statement to Variety, "This situation should never have happened. According to a report, in an effort to be discreet about his withdrawal (which, can you blame him? The two of them then contacted authorities. She asked to see my ID. I gave it to her. I said, 'Hey is that going to be okay with you?' She said, 'Yeah.' I put my own card in. Y'all are the ones with guns and vests.

Coogler was detained and handcuffed after he went to Bank of America to make a transaction on Jan. 7, according to the Atlanta police report. The 35-year-old ...

After verifying Coogler’s identity and his Bank of America account, the officers released him and his colleagues. Coogler’s colleagues were detained in the back of a police vehicle, and Coogler was handcuffed and taken out of the bank by two of the officers. Four Atlanta PD officers arrived at the scene and detained two of Coogler’s colleagues, who were waiting for him outside the bank in a car with the engine running.