ANKENY, Iowa — Kyreef Prezzy is a 26-year-old Black man. Last Sunday, he was simply walking down a public sidewalk, carrying Black Lives Matter signs. At that point, police were called on him.
It's an all-too-familiar situation. Prezzy wasn't doing anything wrong. Then, responding to the call of Prezzy carrying a sign, an officer approached him.
Out of protection, Prezzy started recording the interaction on his phone.
"I pulled out my phone and I was expecting him to tell me that I have to leave, or we have to leave. You know and it was the complete opposite response," Prezzy recollected to Local 5's Eva Andersen and Leziga Barikor.
The interaction ended the right way.
In the video, you can hear the officer say "I appreciate what you guys are doing. I wanted to stop by and say hello, ok?"
The officer thanked Prezzy and walked away.
Prezzy doesn't know the officer, but Ankeny Police Chief Darius Potts does.
As a Black man and a police chief, Potts said this is exactly what he needed to see right now.
"I think that it's one of the best things I've seen in a long time," Potts said. "It kind of got my heart a little bit."
So on Saturday, Chief Potts joined Prezzy for another march, as Prezzy carried the same signs as the week before.
"I just want to let you guys know, you guys are making the change, too," said Prezzy to everyone who joined the march Saturday. "It's beautiful, and so thank you all for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, and just supporting unity."
Prezzy called it the "All for Love" march.
Together, the group marched nearly two miles on the sidewalk along Delaware Ave in Ankeny and chanted as others looked on and honked their horns.
"It's an exciting time," said Charrelle Tredwell, one of Prezzy's friends. She said the cars honking as they chanted got her adrenaline going.
"I really honestly love that, just hearing the support from everyone in this community. You can tell everyone wants change," Tredwell said.
It's all about change, love and unity for Prezzy. He hopes that he can share it with everyone, including his three-year-old son, Aiden.
"I'm setting an example for my son. He can look at this video, he can look at these pictures and see that his dad, you know, fought for a change in a positive way," Prezzy said.
Prezzy said he still doesn't know why police were called on him, but he did say he wants to thank that person because it created the opportunity for all of them to march together.