This can’t be life.
On the heels of allegations against both Macy’s and Barneys that black shoppers were racially profiled, another customer is coming forth to tell his story.
Art Palmer was shopping at the Macy’s flagship store in NYC last April, when four plainclothes police officers stopped him three blocks away. He had just purchased $320 worth of Polo dress shirts and ties.
According to the Daily Mail:
Palmer, a 56-year-old exercise trainer from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, said he made the purchase without incident, using both his Macy’s platinum card and his American Express card.
He was walking to a gym on Park Avenue when police surrounded him and demanded to see his ID.
The officers said they were suspicious because they had lost sight of him on the store’s surveillance cameras, he said.
But Palmer isn’t buying it.
When asked if he believed he was racially profiled, he told the New York Daily News that there was ‘no other reason.’
He was only allowed to continue on his way after he showed his receipt for the clothing and the cards which he purchased them with.
And when he approached Macy’s about the incident, this is what happened:
When Palmer returned to the store the next day to complain, a Macy’s manager blamed it on the cops and said officers frequently come into the store to monitor surveillance videos without permission, according to Palmer.
In the past week, two black Barneys New York customers, Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips, came forward to tell their stories about being detained after making expensive purchases. And actor Robert Brown of HBO’s Treme wasn’t exempt either when he bought his mother a $1,350 watch from Macy’s.
Looks like both stores are in need of some damage control. We suspect the allegations are going to keep on coming.
SOURCE: Daily Mail | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
