Christmas shopping at Toys “R” Us turned in to an incident of racial profiling, according to Cincinnati Bengals running back James Wilder Jr.
In a video he posted on his Facebook page on Monday (Dec. 21), Wilder puts Toys “R” Us on blast for what he called ‘shopping while black.’ Upon arriving at the store, Wilder stated that the store’s manager confronted him with accusations of trying to steal a care cart full of toys earlier that same day.
“Calls us to the front, calls the sheriff,” the athlete said while revealing the story behind the incident in his Facebook video. “Now I’m sitting up here at the front. Messed up my whole shopping process, messed up my day ’cause we in Kentucky Toys R Us and they say I want to steal, like I got a reason to steal.”
Despite his efforts to prove he wasn’t the man who attempted to steal from the store earlier that day, Wilder said the manager refused to show him store footage and instead called the police. From there, Wilder was asked to leave Toys “R” Us.
Reflecting on what happened, Wilder said the entire incident at the store left him feeling “publicly humiliated, offended and embarrassed.”
Watch here.
At this time, Toys “R” Us has issued no formal statement in response to Wilder’s claims. According to reports, the company stated that is looking into the incident.
Wilder has now apologized via Twitter for his actions.
Fair or foul?
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(Photo Source: James Wilder Facebook)
