Grocery store calls police on Black woman feeding homeless in parking lot
Another day of living while Black results in the police being called on African-Americans doing simple things that anyone should be able to do.
We’ve had the cops called on us for selling water, enjoying a BBQ, wearing socks at the swimming pool and now helping a homeless man.
Employees at the Mountain View, California Safeway decided Erika Martin was up to no good when she entered the store with her family to shop.
Little did they know, the charitable mother was looking to do some good by picking up some items to help homeless residents.
Martin said the incident was a matter of racial profiling because employees associated her with a Black man in the store who they also suspected was shoplifting.
According to the East Bay Times, Martin went to the Safeway with her son, two sisters, three nieces, and nephew after attending service at Christ Temple Community Church in Palo Alto. She said her son gave dog food to the homeless man she usually sees outside the store with his pet. The family shops at the store multiple times a week, so she knew the bakery offered free cookies. But when they went inside to see if there were any available, they were told there weren’t any, so they left.
But as Martin’s son was getting inside her car, a Safeway manager came outside and “that’s when he looked at me crazy,” she said.
A few minutes later, a police car pulled up behind her car and Martin said she felt really nervous because she didn’t know what was going on.
Safeway employees told the officers that a woman kinda fitting her description entered the store with children and “had made eye contact” with the man they suspected of shoplifting and then walked out of the store.
Officers did a cursory search of her sister’s car and determined no crime had been committed.
A Safeway spokesperson, Wendy Gutshall, said the company “contacted Ms. Martin to sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding and we look forward to continuing the discussion regarding her concerns.”
“Safeway is committed to fostering an environment of treating everyone with courtesy, dignity, and respect,” Gutshall said in a statement. “We have strong policies against racial discrimination and we do not tolerate violations to the policy.”
Safeway’s internal investigation of the incident is ongoing.
