Navongela Jackson never expected to become the videographer of her own nightmare. But on a quiet day in Marion County, Florida, she hit record as her husband, Freddie Jackson, was handcuffed and detained on property they own.
In a video that has since gone viral, Navongela documented the disturbing moment a sheriff’s deputy accused the couple of trespassing on their own land.
The couple, both African American, say they were sitting in their car near a building under construction on their property when Deputy Riley Artman pulled up.
“He asked us for ID and proof we lived there,” Navongela recalled in an interview with WCJB. “My husband showed his driver’s license with our address on it. But that didn’t stop him.”
Despite verifying Freddie Jackson’s identity, Deputy Artman allegedly ordered him back into the vehicle before handcuffing him and placing him in the back of his patrol car.
“You done ran my name and my tag, knowing I stay here and this is my property. Wow. You still put me in the handcuffs and the police car,” Freddie is heard saying on the deputy’s bodycam footage.
Navongela continued filming as the deputy checked the property permit and, minutes later, released her husband. But the damage, she says, had already been done.
“You see two Black people in an old car by a new building, and you think they don’t belong there,” she told reporters. “That’s what this was. Racial profiling. Period.”
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office has declined to comment, and it remains unclear whether Deputy Artman will face any disciplinary review. The Jacksons have since retained legal counsel and say they intend to file a lawsuit.
“We were humiliated and criminalized for existing on land we own. This shouldn’t happen to anyone,” she said.
Navongela hopes her video sparks larger conversations about racial bias in law enforcement.
