Source: Mark Blinch / Getty
Drake‘s Apollo show is getting attention, and not for the reason you may think.
Over the course of two nights, the Canadian superstar dug deep into his bag of hits and performed B-sides and fan favorites that rarely ring out in stadiums.
But one of the talking points regarding the show isn’t about the concerts, but what happened afterward when fans were leaving the iconic Apollo Theater in New York.
The New York Police Department doesn’t have a stellar relationship with civilians, so when a cop was seen outside the venue, filming concertgoers leaving, social media immediately thought that the footage would be used for the surveillance of Hip-hop fans and to possibly use facial recognition in detecting culprits in crimes around the city.
Jon Caramanica of The New York Times released the video alongside another tweet with a caption that read, “NYPD videorecording every person leaving the Drake Apollo show.”
The NYPD caught wind of social media users’ thoughts on what the video was for and assured them it was for the department’s own social media efforts.
“The officer depicted in the video is a Community Affairs officer involved with the 28th Precinct’s social media team,” a spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information said in a statement released to Consequence. “The officer was taking video for an upcoming Twitter post that will highlight local community events. The video will not be utilized for any other reason.”
See how Twitter’s reacting to the perceived spying below.
