Black Teen buy a designer belt

[Racket_Man]

and gets arrested outside the store.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...-belt#comments

Trayon Christian, a 19 YO college student, saved up money from a part time job to buy a $350 belt. The clerk at Barney's on Madison Ave. asked for ID when Trayon used his debt card (most likely against the merchant agreement). The debt card went through and the man walk out of the store with his purchase.

Immediatedly outside the store a police officer questioned the man saying "how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt." The man's ID was check once again and he was put in handcuffs and hauled off to jail.

The store "claims" they had nothing to with the cop stop (Yeah right).

The man is suing the store and the City.

[Nyoibo]

Funny, in the article I read it said the employee called the police before the purchase.

[Greenday]

Funny, in the article I read it said the employee called the police before the purchase.

It's pretty obvious he did call the police, but he's just denying it so he doesn't look racist.

[hinakiba777]

I have heard a lot of stories about people going into more high end stores and being turned away because they didn't have the right look Age, body type, and most obviously ethnicity being the reasons. However, that is discrimination which most stores say they "won't stand for." So instead of being unable to make his purchase, Trayvon gets to buy his belt after a lot of hassle, and then gets arrested and harassed a block away.

Yeah, the clerk, or someone else in the store totally called the police. It is definitely not a coincidence. It's not right at all.

[mikoyan29]

Do we need to add shopping while black to the mix as well?

How do they know he can't afford said belt? He could be a baseball or basketball star or a singer at that age.

Sheesh.

[Andara Bledin]

My ex got pulled over for driving an expensive car while looking scruffy. They fed him some bullshit about a theft, but they didn't even know the make without looking.

And my brother only ever gets pulled over when he's got his black friend in the passenger seat. Which is actually kind of amazing if you know how my brother drives, but it's still quite telling as regards profiling and how poorly it gets implemented.

[MadMike]

And while they were watching him like a hawk, some well-dressed white guy was probably robbing them blind.

[Greenday]

Who the hell spends that much money on a belt? Honestly...

The whole thing is ridiculous. He paid for it, there's no reason to call the cops.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

It falls down to the simple fact that people will make assumptions based on no real evidence.

I do agree that who buys a $300 belt? But that said, the kid saved up his money so he can buy whatever the [smurf] he wants. You sell the product, person comes to the register with the product and a means of payment...should be a done deal.

And even if they thought that it may have been a stolen card all the clerk needed to do is to ask for ID and say that "Sorry, it's company policy and I have to see ID for all transactions over $X.XX" and had done.

ID matches card...shrug, process, hand over receipt and the bag and call it a day.

But it's a common problem. People make assumptions. I was the victim of that myself. I was working at Perdue Farms Inc. when I graduated from High School. I looked like I was a kid until I was 20 and FINALLY put on some weight (and broke 100 pounds - I was a nerdling).

I worked a midnight to 11am shift on a Friday in late spring and when we were done, I took off and headed home. Windows down, radio playing some Classic Rock, arm out the window, shades on and I was cruising home for the weekend.

Cop pulled me over for being truant from school. DEMANDED to know where I was supposed to be. I simply handed him my license and my Perdue ID card and let him sort it out. After a lengthy delay as he ran my particulars...he finally came back, handed me my stuff and in a very curt tone told me to be on my way.

So crap like this happens all the time. What makes it newsworthy is the simple fact that it was a hoity-toity store and a black teenager. If that happened to me (whiter than sour cream)...no one would have raised an eyebrow in the news.

[ebonyknight]

My ex got pulled over for driving an expensive car while looking scruffy. They fed him some bullshit about a theft, but they didn't even know the make without looking.

And my brother only ever gets pulled over when he's got his black friend in the passenger seat. Which is actually kind of amazing if you know how my brother drives, but it's still quite telling as regards profiling and how poorly it gets implemented.

Reminds me of a personal incident. Back in the 90's I used to work for Amtrak. I went to California for maintenance work at a site and the guy at the site took us on a tour of the area. We went to Beverly Hills. We drove around looking at all the stars houses. As it got later, he said that we should leave as we will get pulled over with me, in the car.

I chuckled, because I knew it was probably true.

[mikoyan29]

People are worried about the blacks robbing them blind while rich white guys get off with stealing billions and getting a slap on the wrist. If someone gets 10 years for stealing the 50 dollars from a 7-11 while holding a gun, the employees of Goldman Sachs should be sentences to roughly 10 billion years with their graves in the prison so in essence they never leave.

[Sarah Valentine]

When I used to work for Terrance and Kevin white people were number 1 on their "watch them so they don't steal shit" list, number 2 were hispanics, number 3 were indian, number 4 were black, and number 5 were asian. I only worked at the flea market for a couple of years, but 9 times out of 10 if someone tried to steal something it was a white guy. If you ask me racial profiling is stupid if you act weird and suspicious I'm gonna watch you and alert security, if you act normal and make your purchase then leave then you're just some random person.

[Talon]

Cop pulled me over for being truant from school. DEMANDED to know where I was supposed to be. I simply handed him my license and my Perdue ID card and let him sort it out. After a lengthy delay as he ran my particulars...he finally came back, handed me my stuff and in a very curt tone told me to be on my way.

So crap like this happens all the time. What makes it newsworthy is the simple fact that it was a hoity-toity store and a black teenager. If that happened to me (whiter than sour cream)...no one would have raised an eyebrow in the news.

Being pulled over and questioned is one thing, being arrested is quite another.

I don't blame the kid for suing. I thought this was America in 2013, not Apartheid-era South Africa.

People are worried about the blacks robbing them blind while rich white guys get off with stealing billions and getting a slap on the wrist. If someone gets 10 years for stealing the 50 dollars from a 7-11 while holding a gun, the employees of Goldman Sachs should be sentences to roughly 10 billion years with their graves in the prison so in essence they never leave.

Come on, didn't you get the memo? There are citizens that Are, and citizens that Aren't. (cookies for the reference)

Steal a buck, get locked up and throw away the key. Steal a million bucks, you get the keys to the city.

[wolfie]

Had a related incident today. Tried to get the week's grocery money out of the ATM, and got a message that the transaction was refused and to call the bank. Turns out they had flagged my account as being suspicious because of 2 transactions: one a couple weeks ago (withdrawl at an ATM at a truck stop in Virginia, one earlier today with an Interac purchase at a tire shop.

Of course, based on previous experience about a year ago when I TRIED to make a withdrawl at an ATM at a truck stop in Pennsylvania, I had phoned the bank to let them know that I was about to take money out at the ATM in Virginia.

When I called the bank to find out what was wrong, I found out about the flagging. Still, you'd think that a large purchase at a tire shop (NOT Canadian Tire - this place ONLY does tires and suspension work) would be LESS suspicious than a large purchase at an ordinary store. After all, it's a VERY bad place to use a "hot" card, since each work order has a VIN on it - which can be used to trace back whose vehicle got the work done.

[Andara Bledin]

Actually, it's not uncommon for stolen cards to be used on potentially large and easily liquidated purchases. Tires fall quite squarely into that category. As to the VIN, they just use a stolen car that's going to a chop shop.

The last time someone tried to empty my bank account, it was on a selection of designer goods in downtown Los Angeles.