MESQUITE, Texas — A group of teenagers say they were humiliated just for buying snacks at their neighborhood grocery store. The boys were shopping at Kroger, on Thursday night, when police were called. Their parents are calling it a case of racial profiling.
”I’m hurt,” Ukiah Swain said as tears formed in her eyes. “I’m frustrated. I’m disappointed.”
Swain’s feelings are written all over her face. She is upset over how her teenage sons and nephews were treated while shopping at the Kroger on the 1900 block of Faithon P. Lucas, Sr. Boulevard in Mesquite, Texas. The police were called to the store after the teens purchased snacks. Customers advised the group store workers had been following them around.
“This is sad,” Swain could be heard saying in a recording of the incident she recorded and posted on Facebook Live, after getting a frantic call from her 16-year-old son. The mom raced to the store. The boys told their parents they had no idea why the store’s manager called police on them.
"When I think about how he sounded. He was yelling, mom. Get here now. They called the police on us. And I said the police? Who?” Swain explained.
Police say store workers claim they have been having issues with kids hanging out in the afternoon and, in some cases, stealing. However, officers admit Swain’s kids weren’t engaging in any crimes. Swain says a manager was snarky when he eventually told her why he called police.
”He laughed at me and said they looked like they could be shoplifters,” Swain said.
The teens’ parents believe the young African American men were unfairly profiled.
Fighting back tears, Swain said, "It was like my children were less than. Like they were not humans. Like they were trash. Scum. Nothing. Like they did not matter.”
Right now, the family is demanding answers and a formal apology.
According to Mesquite Police, any business or any agent of any company can request a criminal trespass warning against anyone for any given reason. Police say they don’t have to ask why. They just issue that warning.
"It’s like you look at the whole world different now,” said Zavarion Swain as he described the embarrassment and trauma he says the teens endured.
Kroger issued a statement about the incident. Corporate Affairs Manager April Martin Nickels said, “We are taking this complaint very seriously and are currently investigating this matter. We value all of our customers, and apologize if anyone was made to feel less than welcomed.”
That explanation is not good enough for the teens’ family, who says it has yet to hear from Kroger directly.
"Don’t profile, and don’t automatically assume. Because that’s what y’all did," Swain said.
The family says it just wants to make sure no one else has to deal with the treatment their boys went through.
On Monday, Kroger Dallas Division sent the following statement to WFAA:
At Kroger, our Purpose is to Feed the Human Spirit and our Promise is everyone friendly and caring, everything fresh, uplift every way, and improve every day. When isolated situations like this happen, it causes all of us to stop and examine ourselves and our culture.
Today we are announcing several immediate actions in response to the incident at our Mesquite, TX store late last week:
First, we have directly contacted the mother of the young men to express our apology for their experience. We strive to provide a welcoming environment and to show respect for all customers. We did not live up to our values in this situation.
Second, we have communicated with the police department to clarify that Kroger has rescinded any complaint stemming from this incident.
Third, the associates involved have been removed from the store while we investigate.
And fourth, we are accelerating an already-planned sensitivity training to occur in this store location and all of our Dallas division stores within the month.
We recognize these steps alone won’t change the broader systemic and cultural biases that plague our society, but we believe that together they demonstrate the seriousness with which we take these issues and our desire to be a part of the solution.