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there's a story from here in New York where a black teenager was cuffed
handcuffed for buying an expensive belt
this is the story in NBC New York
a 19-year-old college student from Queens says he was king handcuffed and
locked in jail
after buying a three hundred and fifty dollar designer belt at Barneys on
Madison Avenue because he is a young black man
tray on Christian told NBC 4 New York
they saved up from a part time job for weeks
to buy of Aragon no belt at Barneys
when he went to the store to buy it a few months ago he says the checkout
clerk asked to see his ID
after the sale went through he left the store he was approached by police
about a block away and ask how a young black man like himself
could afford to purchase such an expensive belt
he was hauled to the local precinct he showed police his ID
police initially thought the idea was not real it was of course eventually
determined
to be real and his filing a lawsuit on the basis that he was
he was profiled essentially as how could you be buying that from Barneys
when you're a young black man now barney's is saying that they were not at
all involved in this
incident at all they had not nothing to do with the police incident and that day
I made some kinda generic statement about they're opposed to any kind of
discrimination
we we have to ask the question and we don't know the answer I ask it honestly
how did the cops just appear a block away
if barney's had nothing to do with it there are people of all races
all over Manhattan and to approach him a block away
out of everybody who's there the day profile him because he had a bag from
Barneys
or was Barney somehow involved I don't know the answer but
there's a lot of missing details here are there Lewis my guess would be
that of course parties was involved it may be impossible to work to determine
unfortunately
bite it seems impossible to me
bat that they had nothing to do with it there's another story from
a second black customer Kayla Phillips who came forward yesterday telling the
New York Daily News and The New York Post that she was actually also harassed
by police
after buying a twenty five hundred dollar handbag from Barneys
same location she's a nursing student from Brooklyn she told the newspapers
that
or officers approached her in inside a subway stop minutes after the purchase
and ask her why she used a temporary debit card to buy the bag
she said I just had opened a new bank account and this is the debit card
that they gave me we have to look at this further
I'm not ready to cast aspersions or make general statements about barney's
or about any particular individuals or groups
but we have to look into this further because something is just not adding up
and it may be just the lack of information this
maybe at this is strange stuff i mean i three hundred and fifty dollar bell
a twenty five hundred dollar personalities people are buying at
Bentley's you know
yet they're expensive items but their items that in Manhattan people by
I so did the enough themselves they shouldn't really be
raising red flags