A shocking social experiment shows the difference in police officer's reactions to a white man walking down the street legally open carrying an assault rifle versus a black man doing the same thing.

The video starts with a white man carrying an AR-15 on his shoulder as he walks down the street with another man whose recording.

When police approach, the officer asks for ID and both men decline citing that they don't have to.

The officer accepts that answer and repeatedly asks why the man is holding the assault rifle.

The same experiment is then conducted but this time a black man is walking down the street openly carrying the same assault rifle.

A police car pulls up and immediately an officer gets out with a gun already pointed at the man and orders him to the ground.

A social experiment was conducted to see the difference in police reaction when a white man walks with an open assault rifle vs. a black man doing the same thing

When the white man openly carries the rifle, he is approached by police and asked for ID, which the man denies

When a black man walks down the street with the rifle, he has a gun pointed at him

The black man is surrounded by multiple cop cars and apprehended

In the video, two more police cars arrive as the first officer continues to aim his gun at the man.

A colleague approaches the black man face down on the ground who is now surrounded by police.

He takes the man's gun and places his hands behind his back before leading him away.

The video was posted by Occupy Democrats, a left-wing political organization to provide a 'counterbalance to the Republican Tea Party'.

More than 8.8million people have viewed the two minute video and it has 16,000 comments.

The video was posted to Facebook by Occupy Democrats

Occupy Democrats is a left-wing political organization to provide a 'counterbalance to the Republican Tea Party

The video has gotten more than 8.8million views and 16,000 comments

One comment says: 'Dude is damn lucky that cop didn't shoot first.'

Another says: 'This is what they mean by white privilege.'

While one Facebook user refers to the scenario as not racism but 'a reaction to information'.

American federal law does not restrict people from carrying guns in public but most states have either prohibited or have regulated laws surrounding open carry.

Thirty one states allow the open carrying of a handgun without any license or permit, although in some cases the gun must be unloaded.

Fifteen states require some form of license or permit in order to openly carry a handgun.

It's unclear which state this video was taken in.