Black attorney, daughter went shopping. They got handcuffed but didn't steal anything
Nancy Bedard said what happened to her and her 19-year-old daughter last week isn't uncommon for black people in America.
"It's while we're shopping, drinking coffee, sleeping, selling cigarettes," she told The New York Daily News. "The fact that you're black alone is suspicious."
Bedard and her daughter were on a shopping trip on May 4, she said, when they decided to make a stop at Amarcord Vintage Clothing in Brooklyn, New York City. She told ABC7 that a white employee accused them of stealing a clothing item they tried on.
Another employee had earlier told Bedard, an attorney, and her daughter to try on their clothing in the same dressing room, she told The New York Daily News. They exited the fitting room — and that's when the second employee allegedly said they came out with one less item.
"I remember counting on my fingers: 'One, two, three, four. There is no missing item,'" she recalled to The New York Daily News.
Bedard said an employee continued to follow after her and her daughter even after they exited the store.
"She kept following us and she tried to touch me, and I told her not to touch me — I told her she was harassing me," she said in an interview with ABC7. "I then took my phone out and tried to take her picture, and she tried to grab the phone, but I did take a photo of her and I said 'please leave me alone!'"
It wasn't long until police arrived to the scene, Pix11 reported. The New York Police Department released a statement saying they responded to a report of "larceny in progress" — but they found no stolen clothing after handcuffing Bedard and her teenage daughter.
Curtis Harmon told Pix11 that he witnessed the ordeal.
“She was screaming at the employees that were in the car, and that she felt like she was racially profiled," Harmon said. "They asked to look in her bag. And she didn’t feel like any of it was right."
Both Bedard and her daughter had bruises from the handcuffs and were treated at a nearby hospital, according to The New York Daily News.
The store posted a letter on its front door and online about the "unfortunate event" that said an employee "politely approached two patrons" who "threatened our employee's safety, humiliated her and berated her race, class, and physical appearance." It also said that "the patrons have proceeded to defame our company" and that "the incident did not happen the way it has been portrayed."
"If you know our team, our store, and us personally, you know we are inclusive, progressive, hard working, decent human beings, who actually stand against discrimination," the letter said. "We do not, and have never tolerated discriminatory behavior of any kind. We love and welcome all our customers, and have been enjoying their support for 20 years.
"Throughout this time, we have never been accused of this. This should speak volumes about who we truly are."
Protesters have since arrived to the store and chanted "This is your block, stop calling the cops" and "stop racial profiling," according to The New York Daily News.
Daniel Kron, an attorney who represents the owners of Amarcord Vintage Clothing, told The Daily News that Bedard had decided to "pull the race card"
He told Pix11 that Bedard and her daughter were acting oddly. He said they didn't seem to be "normal customers."
“Furtive type behavior is suspicious. And suspicious doesn’t mean discriminatory whatsoever," he told Pix11. "This has nothing to do with racism. This has to do with loss prevention.”
Police told ABC7 that they are looking into the matter and that a patrol supervisor will be transferred during the investigation.
Bedard said she believes the whole incident wouldn't have happened if she and her daughter had a different skin color.
"I am lucky that nothing worse happened to me and my daughter," she told ABC7, "but the reality is when people make these calls for no basis and no reason, they are constantly putting people at risk of serious danger."
This story was originally published May 12, 2018 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Black attorney, daughter went shopping. They got handcuffed but didn't steal anything."