The 1967 Detroit Riots lead to a rise in tension between Caucasians and African Americans. Even Detroit’s African American police officers were harassed by Detroit’s Caucasian police officers during the riots. Officer McKinnon was addressed by two Caucasian police officers of Detroit for tampering with a riot curfew, McKinnon claimed that he was part of Detroit’s police force but it had no effect on them. Even though Officer McKinnon was a part of the Detroit police force, the Caucasian police officer of Detroit still decided to shoot him. McKinnon said, “I could see that he was pulling the trigger. I dove back into my car as he fired, and I just floored it” (Meredith).
After a sixteen hour shift, Isaiah McKinnon was in his police uniform coming home from work. All of a sudden McKinnon was pulled over by two Caucasian police officers and was threatened (Ortiz).
“I said ‘police officer. I’m a police officer,’ ” he remembers yelling those words out after he was forced to come out from his 1965 Mustang convertible near Chicago on the Lodge Freeway. The two Caucasian officers had their guns out, and McKinnon recalls one of the officers so clearly. Mostly likely that officer was in his late forties, and had brush-cut, silver hair. The officer from Detroit said to McKinnon "today, you gonna die (racial slur)." McKinnon also said "It was as if things were unfolding in slow motion" as he saw the Caucasian officer pull the trigger. McKinnon dove back into his car. “With my right hand, I pushed the accelerator, my left hand I steered my Mustang, and they were shooting at me as I drove off,” he said. McKinnon left uninjured, as he drove home and reported the incident the next day to a sergeant. But the situation was never investigated. It was McKinnon's first near death experience during those agitated days in July” (Ferretti).