Police stopped a black man ‘because he was wearing too many layers in the sun.’

Eric Taylor, also known as Carter Jr., was on his way to work on Wednesday after stopping to buy toilet paper.

The man was apprehended in Croydon, south London, in “an area well known for drug dealing,” according to police.

The video, which has been viewed over 400,000 times on TikTok, shows one officer saying, “you’re not dressed for the climate,” and another saying, “you just seem odd.”

Police say the video depicts only a small portion of the incident and urge people not to “jump to conclusions.”

The video, which was shot by the detained man, shows him saying that if they buy him a new coat, he’ll take it off.

He can be heard asking the officers at one point, “Who tells me how to dress?”

Mr Taylor told ITV that the officers were “giggling like children” and that he felt “a stranger in this country.”

“The proof is right there in the video,” he said on TikTok.

“It will be replayed in court, and we’ll see if they have the same sense of humour when they’re punished.”

“What they don’t see is that this incident ruined my entire evening.”

Mr Taylor, who works at a football centre and owns a small business selling drinks and sandwiches, believes the officers detained him because “he is Black.”

He claimed that while he was being searched, white children in jackets walked by, but the officers did not stop them.

“There were kids wearing coats walking past me…but it’s because I’m Black, that’s why (the police) do that,” Mr Taylor told MyLondon.

“There were a lot of kids walking by with jackets on, but they weren’t black; they were white.”

According to the 20-year-old, the police had no reason to suspect him because he questioned their use of police powers.

“For them to say that and use that kind of term, we’re searching you under Section 23 (Misuse of Drugs Act 1971),” he said. I can request that you not search me unless you have evidence that I am a suspect.

“But there was nothing to suggest I was a suspect; I was just going about my business.” I’m holding a toilet paper roll. I’m not smoking or doing anything else that would lead the police to believe I’m a danger to the public. I wasn’t doing any of those things.”

The caretaker claims that local residents came out of their homes, perplexed as to why the police had detained him while conducting a search.

“The neighbours asked, ‘Why are you doing this?'” he explained. It’s not right. Is it because he’s African-American?’ ‘Look at this guy wearing a jacket, you’re not stopping them,’ they said.

The man was “wearing several layers of clothing despite the warm weather,” according to the Metropolitan Police, and he “became hostile and refused to account for what he was doing” after being approached by officers from the Violent Crime Taskforce.

He was detained and searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and when nothing was found, he “went on his way.”

“We are aware of footage circulating on social media; this shows only a small part of this incident, and we would ask people not to rush to judgement,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Lee Hill of the Violent Crime Taskforce.

“In this instance a formal complaint has been received and is being handled in accordance with the Police Reform Act.

“This will include a review of all the available footage, including the officer’s body-worn video.

“Our officers have to conduct themselves in the most challenging of circumstances and it is right their actions should be subject to public scrutiny.”