This White Doctor Said He Was Treated Like “A Black Person” During His Arrest

In Florida on Thursday, a white doctor was accused of resisting arrest after yelling at and berating airline employees at Orlando International Airport. When police arrived to de-escalate the situation, 59-year-old Jeffrey Epstein started yelling at police, too. After police put handcuffs on him, Epstein claimed that police were treating him "like a black person" during his arrest.

Epstein arrived at Orlando International Airport on Thursday at 6 a.m. for an American Airlines flight set to leave at 6:24 a.m., according to The New York Times. An employee told him he had arrived too late to make the flight, and he started to yell at the airline employees, according to the Times.

WESH 2 News reported that 59-year-old Jeffrey Epstein was charged by the Orlando Police Department with "battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, trespassing after a warning and disorderly conduct."

"Do you know how to de-escalate things, genius?" Epstein can be heard saying to a police officer on scene in a video of his arrest. "Do you have training, genius?"

When police went to handcuff him, Epstein fell to the ground while struggling against the police and squeezing his arms to his chest so they could not handcuff him, according to video of the incident. He was also pepper-sprayed, according to the Times.

As Epstein is handcuffed on the ground, he started yelling, "Look at them! They're going to beat me up! Don't beat me up, you mother f*ckers!" Then Epstein shouts, "Oh my god! They are treating me like a f**king black person!"

Epstein claimed to WESH 2 News after his arrest that his disturbance was to make a point. "If you're going to do this to a white doctor, who's 59 years old, for doing nothing, then why would black people trust you?" Epstein told the television station.

The doctor said he's a "Trump guy," but believes police should work to de-escalate conflicts. "I was no danger. I was being loud because I wanted everyone to see. I wanted everything to be out in the open," Epstein told WESH 2 News. "Big companies have to take care of their customers, and when they call the cops in, they got to de-escalate, not escalate."

"Until the police fix this problem, I don’t blame black people for being upset when they get arrested," he said.

Bustle has reached out to Epstein for comment.

Epstein's arrest comes nearly two weeks after the arrest of Lauren Elizabeth Cutshaw, a white South Carolina woman pulled over for drunk driving. When she was taken to the police station, Cutshaw tried to convince the officers that she shouldn't be arrested because she was a "very clean, thoroughbred, white girl."

The officer wrote in his report that he "asked what that had to do with anything."

According to the Associated Press, Cutshaw then replied, "You're a cop, you should know what that means," and, "You're a cop, you should know based on the people that come in this room."

Despite her protests, Cutshaw was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, speeding, disregarding a stop sign, possession of drug paraphernalia, and marijuana possession, the Associated Press reported.