Ryan Coogler, the director of Black Panther was briefly arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, in January. He spoke of his detention due to a case of mistaken identity. He was suspected of bank robbery. The incident occurred when he made an attempt to withdraw money from an account he had with Bank of America.

Coogler confirmed the incident to Variety. He said that the situation should have never happened but the bank had worked with him and addressed the issue to his satisfaction so they had “moved on.”

According to a report by the Atlanta police, Coogler went to a Bank of America branch in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 7. What happened next was a mini nightmare for the Black Panther director. He went to a counter and gave the bank teller a withdrawal slip. There was a note on the back of the slip. It reportedly read, “I would like to withdraw $12,000 cash from my checking account. Please do the money count somewhere else. I’d like to be discreet.”

The teller did not properly understand the note and thought it was an attempted robbery as the amount was over $10,000. Coogler was wearing a hat, sunglasses and a COVID mask. The teller triggered an alert notification from the director’s account. The teller also informed her superior in the bank mentioning that she thought that it was a robbery attempt. They decided to call the police.

Four officers from Atlanta Police Department arrived at Bank of America. They detained two colleagues of the director who were waiting for him in a car outside, whose engine was running. They explained the situation to the officers mentioning that Coogler was the director of Black Panther. They also described his entire outfit.

Coogler’s outfit matched the description given by the teller and the manager to the police. They handcuffed him and he left the bank with two of the police officers. They released him and his colleagues after they identified Coogler’s identity as well as his account at Bank of America.

Coogler had been filming “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” in Atlanta, Georgia when he was detained by the police due to a misunderstanding by the teller and manager. The film is scheduled for a November release.

When asked about the incident, a Bank of America spokesperson told Variety that they deeply regreted the occurrence of the incident and that it “never should have happened” and that they had “apologized to Mr. Coogler.”

Tangent: Although some dismiss the Black Lives Matter movement, it has brought awareness of the racism that still exists in the nation. It has also emboldened Blacks to speak about their personal experiences of racism. When well known personalities such as the director of Black Panther can face misunderstanding, it goes without saying that the ordinary person might possibly face more racism. It is important to educate each and every American as well people around the world about the dangers of racism, from school level to the older people, as educating them could decrease racism in the future.