"a car full of men pulled up next to us"

They trailed us down the street, shouting at us. Our crime: being 22-year-old women out at night.

First, they shouted out to ask if we were okay — fair enough, no harm done. But after we answered and kept walking, they continued trailing us, asking what we were carrying (we’d stopped to buy snacks), telling us to give it to them, and then, when we stopped answering, shouting at us to come over to the police car and get in. After our first answers, we stopped responding and kept walking straight ahead, as quickly as we could, not looking at them, not answering.

They trailed us in their car for over a block, always staying a few feet behind us and continuing to shout at us to come to them, even though we’d stopped responding. They only stopped when we hurried around the corner down a side street.

Read More | "I Was Street Harassed by The NYPD" | Erika W. Smith | ?Bust