Black family sues Walmart after they Walmart falsely accused them of shoplifting. Put up the family for a mass here. A black Florida family is suing Walmart after they were falsely accused [00:00:16] of shoplifting because security guards refused to check receipts, confirming they purchased the items, which is standard you would assume from loss prevention. The Brewster family had just left church when they entered a Florida Walmart to [00:00:35] exchange some clothes they had purchased for their daughter the previous day that ended up not fitting her. The black family of five ended up falsely accused of attempting to steal the items [00:00:50] they were trying to exchange, and ordered into a security room with television monitors, where they were confronted by security guards and sheriff deputies. The entire family. Here's what happened when the family returned to Walmart to exchange clothing. [00:01:06] So Nakia then walked to the customer service counter to make the exchange, which included five items of clothing and another five items larger in size. That was when she untied the bag and pulled out the clothes [00:01:23] she wanted to exchange, along with the receipt for those items. Very straightforward here. During the process, the customer service worker apparently received a call from the security guards, prompting the employee to stall the exchange. [00:01:41] Raymond joined his wife in the customer service line, which had been growing longer with customers due to the delay. About ten minutes later, a plainclothes security guard named Steven George Mullen approached the family and accused them of stealing. [00:02:00] Ma'am, we saw you put something in your bag, end quote, he announced in a loud voice, drawing stares from other customers before repeating the same accusation. Quote. No, you did not see anything in my bag. What are you talking about? [00:02:17] Nakia responded, ma'am, I have you putting these pair of pants in your bag. Mother continued quote sir, I have a receipt that shows we purchased these clothes on Saturday. Nakia responded, trying to hand mother the receipt from the previous day. [00:02:32] Quote. You can match the UPC with the barcode on the pants, right? But Mullin was not interested in examining the evidence. I mean, receipt that claim states the family gathered their belongings [00:02:50] and followed Mullin to the middle of the store, where they were greeted by two Jacksonville sheriff's deputies. They then ordered the family to follow them into the security room near the front of the store. The family was ordered to sit on a bench, while one of the deputies told them [00:03:07] they were there to keep the peace. We didn't steal anything, Nikita told the deputy, quote. Not sure why they think we did. We have a receipt for everything we purchased, and that was when the deputies realized the security guards had lied to them. They have a receipt. [00:03:23] One of the deputies asked the guards. That's not the information you said to us. That's not what's on the body cam. We think we saw her put items in the bag, Mullis explains. That's not the information you said to us, the second deputy said. [00:03:41] That's not what's on body cam. Fortunately, the Jacksonville sheriff's deputies recognized the family was being falsely accused and eventually let them go. But not before husband and wife Raymond and Nakia Brewster, along with their [00:03:58] three daughters, ages 12, seven and one, were forced to sit on a bench while the security guards searched through the surveillance video to show the cops their alleged evidence that the family had been trying to steal merchandise. But there was no evidence. Quote. You're free to go. [00:04:14] If you like to meet me in the parking lot, I'll write a report on this entire event for you. The deputy told the family after realizing they had been falsely accused. According to the lawsuit filed last month, which mentioned several past incidents where Walmart employees racially profiled customers, the lawsuit states, quote, [00:04:31] the Brewster family was security profiled, wrongfully imprisoned, wrongfully detained, defamed, discriminated against and in violation of their civil rights and humiliated states. The claim, which accuses Walmart of civil rights violation, wrongful imprisonment, defamation and slander, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. [00:04:51] I want to say this to the officers who responded. They did. They did a fine job. They did the right thing. They called out the actual perpetrator being loss prevention, ironically, at Walmart, and then said something to the family that I think is is important. [00:05:08] They said, listen, I will write a report for you. We can talk in the parking lot. What does that report do? It establishes that the police agree with you that nothing wrong happened. Stopping Walmart or anybody else from being able to spend the store in another fashion, possibly giving them a significant [00:05:24] advantage when filing the lawsuit. Now. So big ups to the sheriffs who did that, Sheriff's deputies who did that and to the family. Sorry you had to go through this, especially with your children. But holding them accountable, Walmart accountable is going to make it better for many, many more people in the future who would have been discriminated against [00:05:42] if it had not been for your leadership. Alright. Jackson thoughts? Well, I mean, how fitting of Walmart. You know, just a couple weeks ago they was like, to hell with all this di mess. It was like we, we done we done working with black and brown and female and gay vendors. [00:05:59] You know what I'm saying? Like which is, I mean, it's a believable move, but such an unnecessary one. All in all. But, yeah, this this is not surprising whatsoever. Hate that the family had to go through this. Just another day in America. But yeah, very Walmart of being Walmart. [00:06:16] That's right. I mean, the receipt was there.