Man captured in racist rant video claims he did it for $200

A man captured on video giving a racist rant said he agreed to stage the incident for $200, but was never paid.

The man, Neil Thompson, filed a report with the Memphis Police Department, claiming he and his family have been victim to threats and intimidation after the video went viral. He said that he accepted an offer to stage a video, which included him using the N-word, saying “black lives don’t matter” and referencing Donald Trump, following a traffic incident.

According to the police report, Thompson said he had been driving when another vehicle cut him off “and applied their brakes hoping he would hit the back of their car.” Thompson said he continued on to his destination, but when he got there another man approached him. That man said he had seen what happened and thought the other vehicle was in the wrong.

That man, who has been identified as Brandon Levston, said he thought the traffic incident was caused by “the political atmosphere.” According to Thompson, Levston said he was “a columnist” and wanted a video of the incident. He said he would give Thompson $200 “to act out a video of a racist rant” and would blur Thompson’s face.

According to WMC Action News, Levston disputes this account, and says he is the driver of the car that had changed lanes in front of Thompson, who was driving with his wife and son in his car. Levston said Thompson confronted him and when he began recording the encounter, Thompson began using racial slurs.

Levston said he wanted to get out of his vehicle to confront Thompson, but said he didn’t have confidence in the justice system “to take that type of risk” to “respond with force.” So instead, he chose to record what Thompson was saying.

Levston said he doesn’t want Thompson to be harmed due to backlash from the video, but that he hopes the man will be charged for filing a false police report.

The video of Thompson’s rant was viewed more than 2 million times in 10 hours, but according to Levison Facebook removed it.

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Man captured in racist rant video claims he did it for $200."