Barneys New York, a clothing store, has been in the hot seat this week for racial profiling a young African-American man in their store after he made a purchase. Now the clothing store is blaming NYPD for the situation.
Trayon Christian, who attends New York City College of Technology, went into the store to make a purchase only to be accosted and told that the stole the item that he bought, a designer belt. The young man showed was followed by two unidentified police officers and questioned as to how he was able to purchase such a belt reported CNN on Oct. 25.
The problem did not just stop there for Christian, he was handcuffed and taken to a holding cell, where he waited for two hours while the two police officers verified his bank card and information. This would make a great crime thriller story huh?
Barney’s CEO Mark Lee sat down with Rev. Al Sharpton apologizing for the situation. However, denied that any Barney’s employee had anything to do with what happened to Christian; it was the NYPD’s fault.
So far the NYPD and Barney have been tossing blame back and forth like a hot potato according to Reuters.
What will become of the blame game that is being tossed around no one knows; however, the NYPD has a history of racial profiling and has been under investigated for their ‘Stop-and-Frisk,’ which largely targeted African-Americans and Latinos.
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
