DETROIT – A home improvement specialist who has been harassed because of the van he drives wants people to know he is not involved with human trafficking.
Marcel Jackson said the harassment started after a video of a woman claiming she saw a young girl being forced into the back of a van at a Detroit gas station went viral on Facebook.
“A lot of people have been following me, trying to pull me over, trying to look inside the van and stuff,” Jackson said. “It’s not me. It’s not me with the sex trafficking."
He said a woman followed him for miles while he was driving to a job site. When Jackson asked the woman why she was following him, he said she said she was an undercover cop.
“I finally stopped and asked her why she was following me, and she looked up at me and asked, ‘Are there any children in your van?’” Jackson said.
Jackson decided to make a Facebook post of his own, hoping to clear his name.
“I mean, I understand the importance of it. But just normal citizens driving around, trying to pull people over, it’s just too far. I’m out here just trying to work," Jackson said.
Other white van owners have experienced similar harassment over the vehicles they drive.