Milwaukee Bucks power forward John Henson has claimed he was the victim of racial profiling. According to the report, when he parked in front of a jewelry store in Milwaukee, in an area that is mostly white, the store closed down and called the cops.
Henson signed a $44 million contract extension this past offseason, so expensive jewelry certainly isn't out of his price range. But apparently being a 6′ 10″ black man was enough to scare employees into locking the front door of the store and hiding in the back of the room.
After the incident, Henson was expectedly upset, commenting on his Instagram:
“This was one of the the most degrading and racially prejudice things I've ever experienced in life and wouldn't wish this on anyone.”
Police officers came to the parking lot and questioned Henson, even going so far as to inquire how he acquired the luxury car he was driving.
After confirming Henson's identity, the officers alerted the store workers who he was and allowed him to look at the watches he had come to see. However, officers were still asked to stand by while he shopped.
Henson's full comments were posted on Instagram, but the post was pulled down on Tuesday morning. The full caption read:
“Went to @schwankekasten jewelry today in White-Fish Bay during regular business hours. They locked the door and told me to go away. After I rang the doorbell twice everyone went to the back. No answered the door or told me what was going on. This was followed by two police cars pulling up and parking across the street and watching me for 5 minutes ( I assumed they were called by the store ). I was then approached by 2 officers and questioned about the dealer vehicle I was in which is apart [sic] of my endorsement deal with Kunes country Chevrolet and asked me what I wanted amongst other things that were just irrelevant to me being there just trying to shop at the store like a normal paying customer would do. I told them I was just trying to look at a watch. He then had to go in the back and tell them to come out it was safe but this is after they ran my plates and I overheard them talking about doing more of a background check on the car. The employees finally came out of the back and proceeded to conduct business like they previously were as we walked up. This was one of the the most degrading and racially prejudice things I've ever experienced in life and wouldn't wish this on anyone. This store needs to be called out and that's what I'm doing. You have no right to profile someone because of their race and nationality and this incident needs to be brought to light and I urge anyone who ever is thinking of shopping here reads this and doesn't bring any business to this discriminatory place.”
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