Grey's Anatomy showrunner reveals she shoplifted, drove drunk, and even assaulted others as a teen - but was always let off the hook without so much as a criminal record because of her white privilege (15 Pics)

A Grey's Anatomy showrunner is going viral with a Twitter thread about her white privilege, highlighting all the times she was let off the hook or shown leniency when committing crimes as a teen and young woman.

In response to the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta — after the 27-year-old was found drunk and asleep in his car and resisted arrest — Krista Vernoff, 46, reflected on her own run-ins with the law, and how they all turned out much differently than they did for Brooks.

The executive producer and screenwriter looked back at the time she was caught shoplifting, another time she was pulled over for drunk driving, and the two occasions when she assaulted another person, and noted that each time she faced minimal if any legal repercussions, something she attributes to her white privilege.

Speaking out: Krista Vernoff, 46, wrote about her white privilege, highlighting all the times she was let off the hook or shown leniency when committing crimes as a teen and young woman

On TV: She is an executive producer and writer on Grey's Anatomy

'When I was 15, I was chased through a mall by police who were yelling “Stop thief!” I had thousands of dollars of stolen merchandise on me,' she wrote in the now-viral thread.

'I was caught, booked, sentenced to 6 months of probation, required to see a parole officer weekly. I was never even handcuffed. 

'When I was 18,' she went on, 'I was pulled over for drunk driving. When the Police Officer asked me to blow into the breathalyzer, I pretended to have asthma and insisted I couldn’t blow hard enough to get a reading.

'The officer laughed then asked my friends to blow and when one of them came up sober enough to drive, he let me move to the passenger seat of my car and go home with just a verbal warning.

'When I was 19, I got angry at a girl for flirting with my sister’s boyfriend and drunkenly attacked her in the middle of a party. I swung a gallon jug of water, full force, at her head. The police were never called.

Leniency: She recalled getting just six months probation for shoplifting and facing no consequences for driving drunk or committing assault on two occasions

'When I was twenty, with all of my strength, I punched a guy in the face — while we were both standing two feet from a cop. The guy went to the ground and came up bloody and screaming that he wanted me arrested, that he was pressing charges.

'The cop pulled me aside and said, “You don’t punch people in front of cops,” then laughed and said that if I ever joined the police force he’d like to have me as a partner. I was sent into my apartment and told to stay there.

'Between the ages of 11 and 22, my friends and I were chased and/or admonished by police on several occasions for drinking or doing illegal drugs on private property or in public. I have no criminal record.'

Vernoff then posed a question: 'If I had been shot in the back by police after the shoplifting incident — in which I knowingly and willfully and soberly and in broad daylight RAN FROM THE COPS — would you say I deserved it?'

She asked white readers to think back to crimes they've committed in their lives.  

'Note: You don't call them crimes. You and your parents call them mistakes,' she added.

She noted that crimes committed by white people are often written off as 'mistakes' in the US, while those same crimes are treated with more force and punishment for Black people

'Think of all the mistakes you’ve made that you were allowed to survive,' she went on.

'Defunding the police is not about “living in a lawless society.” It’s about the fact that in this country, we’re not supposed to get shot by police for getting drunk.

ˇ'The system that lets me live and murders Rayshard Brooks is a broken system that must change. Stop defending it. Demand the change,' she concluded, finishing off with three hashtags:  #BlackLivesMatter #WhitePrivilege #DefundPolice.

The thread has earned hundreds of thousands of likes and plenty of replies.

'We’re also not saying these privileges are a bad thing. They’re a great thing! They just should be afforded to *everybody*,' one person responded. 

'The fact that after reading this, my thoughts on this and feelings have just drastically changed is honestly surprising to me,' wrote another. 'Not even the fact that it’s because you are white but simply thinking about the fact that they are considered mistakes by most of us and it isn’t.'

Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by police in Atlanta on June 12 after he was found drunk and asleep in his car and resisted arrest

Officer Garrett Rolfe was fired early Sunday. Brooks suffered two gunshot wounds to his back

Others shared their own stories of committing crimes and getting pulled over but being given the benefit of the doubt.

One woman said that her 15-year-old son explained white privilege to her as 'when you yell at the cops for pulling you over.'

'I once vandalized a car with friends and wasn’t questioned, despite the owner saying I was involved. Shortly after, my sister and I were caught shoplifting clothes and they only called our parents. Police fake busted many of our teenage parties and sometimes came back for a drink,' said another.

'I have a family member (white) who was brought to the police station (not arrested) as a teen a few times for shoplifting, and breaking into a car. Cops called his mom each time - he was never charged. He turned his life around and later graduates from West Point,' yet another chimed in.

'My sister's friend from high school is a "felon" now because she was foolish enough to shoplift with 2 white girls and when they were caught, they got probation after giving back the merchandise and she got 3 years jail time after doing the same,' one more shared. 

Brooks, who was killed on June 12, had fallen asleep at the wheel in the drive-thru lane of the Wendy's. 

Workers had called 911 to report him, saying he was 'intoxicated.'

Garrett Rolfe, one of two officers to arrive on the scene, spoke with Brooks and gave him a field sobriety test. When he tried to arrest him for being over the limit, the father-of-four struggled and reached for the cop's Taser.

Brooks got away and began running through the parking lot. After he turned to try to taser Rolfe shot him twice in the back. 

Rolfe was fired by the police department on Sunday, while the other officer, Devin Brosnan, was put on administrative leave. 

But Brooks' family, along with millions of others, are calling for the cops to face charges. 

Disciplinary records obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution reveal that Rolfe, a six-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department, had been reported for misconduct 12 times before the killing, including one alleging excessive use of force.

He was reported in 2017 for excessive use of force with a gun and received a reprimand, but it's unclear what exactly happened to prompt the complaint.