68-year-old Terry Akers faces charges of assault and making threats after a video allegedly shows him using racial slurs and attempting to enter a woman’s car.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man was arrested Thursday after a cellphone video allegedly showing him threatening a woman, using racial slurs and attempting to open her car door gained widespread attention on social media.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, 68-year-old Terry Akers was arrested Thursday morning and booked into the Duval County Jail. Jail records show he is charged with simple assault, battery (touch or strike, no injury) and making threats of harm to a person or property. His bond was set at $1,300.
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The woman who recorded the encounter, Tynika “Ty” Munn, said the confrontation happened Monday afternoon while she was picking up a friend from Akers’ home.
Munn said she had been to the home several times before to pick up the same friend. She said she pulled into driveway behind a car that Akers was sitting in and quickly realized something was wrong.
“I pulled up behind the car and all of a sudden a car just started revving up,” Munn said. “So I ended up reversing and then I went on the street.”
Munn said Akers got out of his vehicle and began yelling at her.
“He actually said the N-word before I started recording,” Munn said. “And then he said it again.”
The cellphone video shows Akers yelling, cursing and threatening to shoot Munn. It also appears to show him pulling on the driver’s side door handle while Munn remains inside her vehicle and calls 911.
“I didn’t jump out the car,” Munn said. “He came over there and that’s the whole video. He was aggressive and that’s it from beginning to end.”
Munn said she feared for her safety as the confrontation escalated.
“I was thinking, he’s trying to open my door, what’s he gonna do?” she said.
Munn said she waited about 40 minutes for officers to arrive but left before police reached the scene. She said she later spoke with officers that evening.
Three days later, Munn said officers came to her home, reviewed the cellphone video and informed her that Akers had been arrested.
“They admitted that he assaulted me,” Munn said. “They also admitted that they were very apologetic.”
The video has since drawn nationwide attention after social media creator Michael McWhorter, who has more than 2 million followers across his platforms, shared the footage.
Munn believes the widespread attention helped bring accountability.
“I feel like I got justice with the attention only because of social media,” she said. “But I just hope that others stand up and report things because we get tired.”
“Some people were telling me I was too complacent because everybody’s ready to fight,” Munn said. “I don’t want to fight with my hands. I want to fight with justice.”
Despite the arrest, Munn remains skeptical about the outcome of the case.
“I don’t believe anything’s gonna happen,” she said. “I believe he’s gonna get a slap on the hand.”
Akers remained in the Duval County Jail as of Thursday evening.