A Doritos Bag, a Gun Drawn, and a Black Teen Terrorized by ‘AI’

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October 28, 2025

Frances Murphy (Toni) Draper, Word in Black

Photo: Wallstreethotrod via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.

I keep thinking about a teenager — Black, 16, a student-athlete — who did what kids do after practice: he ate snacks with friends and waited for a ride. Minutes later, eight police cars rolled up to Kenwood High School in Baltimore County. Officers drew their guns, ordered him to the ground, and handcuffed him. Not because he had a weapon. Because an artificial intelligence “gun detection” system mistook a crumpled Doritos bag for a firearm.

The AI vendor, Omnilert, issued an alert claiming to detect a possible gun. School administrators reviewed the footage and reportedly canceled the alert, but the principal — who is white — allegedly re-escalated the situation by contacting police anyway. Officers responded in force, guns drawn. Taki was detained, humiliated, and traumatized — all because an algorithm and an adult made the wrong call.

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