A Black man was nearly killed after T-Mobile employees called the police because he was looking at phones to purchase.
On June 25, #DorianJohnson, 26, and his uncle, Vincent Lemar, were checking out iPhones at a California #TMobile, looking to get a new phone. T-Mobile employees for some strange reason suspected Johnson of robbery and called the police. In a video captured by Lemar, you can see police arrive and Johnson immediately lays on the ground; police then draw their guns on the unarmed man. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Johnson’s girlfriend, Gloria Bush, arrived at the scene to inquire about the incident. “All I saw was guns pointed at my babies’ daddy, and he was on the ground. I didn’t know if they had already shot him,” Bush, 23, of Fresno, told The Bee on Friday, June 29. “I said, ‘Tell me what’s going on. I know he’s a good man. I know he wasn’t here with bad intentions.”
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According to the Bee, T-Mobile employees called the police because they thought a possible robbery was about to to take place. However, Johnson who had his work I.D. on said if he were trying to rob a store why would he wear his work identification.
“This was racial profiling at its finest. Prejudice in its precipice,” Lemar said on Facebook. “And T-Mobile should do something about this highly uncalled for but totally avoidable misunderstanding.”
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Regardless of the recent “while Black” and clear racism that taken place, T-Mobile stands by its employees’ actions. “The safety and comfort of our customers, our TPR dealers and their employees is paramount to us. We are taking this incident very seriously and are actively investigating to determine exactly what occurred. Though we have found no evidence that the employees acted improperly, we would take definitive action if we did.”
