"All Black People" Asked to Leave Walmart
 

Store is looking at security video to figure out who made the announcement

Wal-Mart officials are looking at security tapes after an announcement was made for "all black people'' to leave a store in South Jersey.

A man used the public-address system at the Route 42 store in Washington Township Sunday night and calmly announced: "Attention Wal-Mart customers: All black people leave the store now.''

Patricia Covington and Shelia Ellington were inside the store when it happened and told the Courier Post that customers and store employees looked stunned when they heard it.

"In 2010, I want to know why such statements are being made because it flies in the face of what we teach them [our kids] at home, and that's tolerance for people," said Ellington.

Ellington and other customers let store management and police know they were upset.

They asked the store to use the same announcement system to apologize to customers that night, which it did.

Wal-Mart management called the incident "unacceptable," and said it's working to make sure nothing like this happens at any other stores.

Washington Township police and the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office are investigating the incident as a possible bias crime.

"I can't believe it in this day and age," Covington told the paper. "Wal-Mart needs to be more responsible."

Covington and Elllington are boycotting the store.


and of course their pissed

I love this pic!

i hope it turns out to be a black person that did it

That reminded me of this

CNN) -- Victoria Arter was outraged when she heard the announcement over the Wal-Mart loudspeaker.

"Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers," she said a male voice announced. "All blacks need to leave the store."

"We waited and waited. Some people just left their carts in disgust and said they couldn't believe it," Arter told Philly.com, a CNN affiliate.

It was busy shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday at the Turnersville, New Jersey, Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Arter, a 29-year-old assistant bank manager who is black, didn't know what was going on, but she was not happy. Neither were other customers, who began dialing their cell phones and demanding answers from managers. Some were just quiet, still in shock at what they'd heard.

A few moments later, a store manager got on the public address system and began apologizing and contacted the local police.

This week, authorities have said they're investigating the episode as "a suspected bias intimidation crime."

Arter frequently shopped at the Wal-Mart, but she won't go there any longer, the told the Philadelphia online news source.

"It could have led to violence," Arter told Philly.com. "It could have triggered someone who was having a bad day. I don't want to be an innocent bystander to something because of someone's not-so-funny joke."

"I can't go back in," said Patricia Covington, who was also in the store and spoke to Philly.com. "I went to Target instead. I can't bring myself to go back in there."

She and her friend Sheila Ellington were checking out when they heard the announcement. An attorney, Ellington is also a member of the Gloucester County Minority Coalition.

Both were frightened, unsure of whether the person on the microphone was going to do something violent.

"This voice was controlled and confident," Ellington told Philly.com. "It didn't appear to be a prank."

The discount chain is "just as appalled by this as anyone," Wal-Mart corporate spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said. "Whoever did this is wrong and acted in an inappropriate manner."

Police and prosecutors are reviewing security camera video from the store. Any of the 25 in-store telephones could have accessed the public address system, although not all phones are within range of surveillance cameras, authorities said.

It's unclear whether the tape will be made public to help identify the speaker. The store has 700 employees; many are part-time. Some of the store's telephones can be accessed by customers.

I'm 99% sure that that was a customer. It's not that hard to figure out the paging system for the phones. All the new phones they're installing now have the word "page" right by the button that you use to page with. The only way that it would be an employee is if someone just got terminated and that was his last hurrah on the way out the door. I've heard random customers get on the paging system every now and then. Mostly because they got tired of waiting for help and took action into their own hands.

They'll probably change them in about a week, requiring some security code before you make a page. And then someone will sue because of someone's stupidity.

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My guess is that it was Al Sharpton, rode down from New Yalk on his afro-saucer.
-SRD

This is an absolute travesty that must be fully investigated by local and federal authorities. Can we get a congressional inquiry into how this could happen? And will someone please sponsor a bill that results in stiff penalties for anyone convicted of using a public address system for something it was not intended!

I will never go into another WalMart and will be suing the corporation for damages because whenever I see a black person it will bring up the memories of this horrifying day.


Paging Michael Hunt......Michael Hunt...has anyone seen Mike Hunt?

Dude, calm down, they found out the whole thing was caused by an alien wizard in Independence Hall.
-SRD

He has since been killed