Store clerk called 911 on man for being 'arrogant' and 'black' [View all]

A college student visiting New Mexico says he was racially profiled by a store clerk who was captured on camera calling the police, saying she wanted the student to leave the store because he was being “arrogant” and “black.”

Jordan McDowell, a 22-year-old Xavier University student who was visiting Santa Fe ,recorded part of the exchange between him and the Allsup clerk on his cell phone. In footage captured of the incident, the employee can be heard saying while on the phone with what is presumed to be a 911 dispatcher: “And I want him out of the store right now.” The employee can then be heard saying after pausing momentarily, “because he's being arrogant, because he's black."

“In that moment, the only thing I felt at that small moment was rage," McDowell told KRQE of the incident, which occurred last Friday. “But at the same time, too, I understood that racism in America never truly died.”

McDowell said the employee called the police on him after he purchased some Sour Patch Kids and proceeded to look around for other items to buy. “They said I was sketchy because I picked stuff up, put stuff back,” McDowell told the local station.

McDowell said after the police arrived he and the clerk spoke with an officer who determined he hadn’t done anything wrong. The store clerk repeatedly denied speaking of the student’s race when talking to the local station, even after being showed the clip of the incident.

News video at:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/400944-new-mexico-store-clerk-caught-on-video-calling-911-on-man-for