Two Illinois men drove 16 hours in an RV hauling two massive buggies to bring aid to people in Vidor, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey and massive flooding devastated the area.
On September 2, Jared Kirkendoll and Scott Green had four people on board their buggy and were bringing them to dry land when their vehicle was stopped by a law enforcement officer.
Video posted on Facebook shows a two minute exchange between Kirkendoll and the officer when they were ordered to leave.
The man stopped the buggy and asked: ‘Is this your vehicle?’
Kirkendoll said it was, and the man ordered him to step off the vehicle.
‘For what?’ Kirkendoll said.
The officer responded aggressively: ‘Because I said so.’
Kirkendoll explained that his identification was not with him, and the law enforcement official told him to come down off the buggy or he ‘would not be leaving.’
Scott Green and Jared Kirkendoll drove 16 hours from Illinois to Orange County, Texas, to help victims of the Harvey flooding. They used two large buggies to travel through the flood waters
A law enforcement official in Vidor, Texas, prevented two men from helping victims of the Harvey flooding, saying: ‘We’ve got enough’
The two men spoke for less than a minute before shaking hands. As Kirkendoll climbed back onto the buggy, he said: ‘Next time don’t yell, we’re just trying to help. We’re out a s**t load of money.’
The officer said: ‘My house is flooded too, but I’ve got to be out here helping people. We appreciate that you’re here, but we’ve got enough.’
The video has gone viral on Facebook and has been viewed four and a half million times. The Vidor Police Department said on Facebook that it was not one of their officers and that they are thankful to the volunteers.
The men battled heavy flood waters in order to deliver water and other supplies to victims of the hurricane’s destruction
The Vidor Police Association said it has been inundated with messages about the video and that any complaints should be directed to the Orange County Sheriff’s department.
Kirkendoll and Green left Illinois for Texas on August 30. Green posted a picture on Facebook of the two buggies and captioned it: ‘We’re Texas bound!! See If we can go give these folks a hand.’
James Hartwell posted the video of the encounter on Facebook and captioned it: ‘So this just happened. Jared Kirkendoll and Scott Green was just told that they have to leave vidor because they are not needed here.. but yet they are doing more than any off the law enforcement is doing here. This is the biggest crock of b******t ive ever heard. F***** power trip. Helping people and get treated like that. Oh and as you can see he was a total a*****e.’
Kirkendoll and Green spent four days in Texas bringing aid to victims of the Harvey flooding using their massive buggies
Green (left) and Kirkendoll (right) had four people they were taking to dry waters on board when they were stopped by law enforcement officials
‘We were helping people out and taking water and supplies to people,’ Kirkendoll said in a statement to The Free Thought Project. ‘In fact, we were dropping water to people and we had four people on the buggy, taking them to land.’
The two men left Texas on Sunday. Green posted on Facebook: ‘Unfortunately it’s that time for us to start heading north. It has been an experience that words can’t even describe. I have never seen so much gratefulness and love in one area before in my life. All the people that we got to help was nothing but thankful for us and let us know it!!!!’
‘It was truly an amazing feeling knowing we were making a difference. Want to thank everyone who gave us a hand and helped when we needed it on this trip as well. It was sad to see so many people loose (sic) everything they had but also heart warming to see everyone pull together and help in anyway they could,’ he continued.
‘Absolutely amazing . We’re tired and smell and been running on Mountain Dew . Buggys (sic) need work.. But all I want to do right now is jump back on the buggy and go find people who need us. God is so good!! Thank you all.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Kirkendoll and Green for comment.