What’s up with Barneys and the NYPD? A 19- year-old college student Trayvon Christian, was arrested after purchasing a belt at Barneys in Manhattan. The young man, who works part time, saved money for weeks to purchase a Salvatore Ferragamo belt in April. He paid with his debit card and showed his identification at the time of purchase, which went through without a hitch. We all make debit card purchases like this without giving them a second thought.
Here’s the part most of us haven’t experienced after making a debit purchase, and it’s the stuff of nightmares! After leaving the store, he was approached by police about a block away, and asked “how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt,” according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Christian was put in handcuffs and hauled into the precinct where he produced the receipt, his debit card and ID. The young man who has never been in trouble, waited in a jail cell until doubtful police eventually called his bank which verified the card belonged to him.
“Why me? I guess because I’m a young black man, and you know, people do a credit card scam so they probably thought that I was one of them,” Christian said. “They probably think that black people don’t have money like that.” Christian is suing Barneys and the city for “great physical and mental distress and humiliation.”
A 21-year-old nursing student has a very similar complaint. Kayla Phillips, came forward Wednesday, telling the New York Daily News and the New York Post that she was harassed by police after buying a $2,500 Céline handbag from the upscale store. The student used her income tax return to purchase the handbag.
Phillips, told the newspapers that four officers approached her in a nearby subway stop minutes after the purchase and asked her why she used a temporary debit card to buy the bag. Phillips said she had just opened a new bank account when she bought the purse.
Phillips’ attorney told the Daily News that a civil rights lawsuit is pending in the encounter.
For their part, Barneys said in a statement Wednesday that none of its employees was involved in any action with Christian other than the sale, and added that the store “has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination. This begs the question, how did police immediately know that the two black shoppers had just exited Barneys after making expensive purchases, and – they must have Sylvia Browne on the force, because they also knew all of the details. Please! Good luck to Trayvon Christian and Kayla Phillips…Something is very stinky in the high rent district. If you’re looking for a store to boycott this holiday season, may I suggest you put Bar