A revealing interview with Ghanaian Paul Kojo on Mike Brennan, police brutality and racism in Vienna
“Everyone on the subway was aware of the Brennan incident,” said Paul Kojo, a native of Ghana who has lived in Austria for 23 years. “It always comes down to showing one’s ID. I have personally never had any confrontation with the police, only routine controls. I have been checked four times in over 20 years. But, most of my white friends have never been checked.
“Recently, these checks have been rampant. A friend of mine came to work angry the other day after having been pulled over by police. Colleagues were joking about him looking like a drug dealer.” But you have to understand the police point of view, too, he said. Coming from a police family, he sees routine checks as part of a policeman’s duty.
