Posted on 09/05/2015 4:18:02 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Eyewitness account claims man was "trying to buy groceries with his EBT card and ended up in a stretcher"
Editor's Note: The photographs posted on this page are graphic in nature.
Whole Foods has fired a security guard at one of its Oakland locations after photographs of a bloody altercation between a customer and the guard surfaced on Facebook.
Zoe Marks, a fellow at Edinburgh University, was visiting Oakland, when she posted an eyewitness account Thursday of what she described as a “horrific” incident at the Whole Foods Market near Lake Merritt. Marks said the customer "was trying to buy groceries with his EBT card and ended up in a stretcher."
An EBT or Electronic Benefit Transfer card is a replacement for paper food stamps and checks.
“I just saw a young man violently assaulted by an armed security guard at Whole Foods, slammed repeatedly against concrete pillars, put in a chokehold, restrained, and suffocated until he was thrown face down on the pavement unconscious. The guard locked him out of the store despite the fact he was immobile," Marks wrote. In an email, a spokesperson for the supermarket chain said the security guard, who has been "permanently removed from Whole Foods Market," got involved after the customer made physical contact with a store employee.
Whole Foods Market "takes a zero tolerance approach to violence," the spokesperson said.
Marks's photographs show an unidentified man with a black jacket lying on the floor bleeding. Paramedics can be seen attending to the man in another photograph. According to Marks, not a single employee at Whole Foods called the paramedics. It is not immediately clear what events took place right before the altercation. According to Marks: “He was trying to buy groceries with his EBT card and ended up in a stretcher."
Marks wrote she spent an hour giving a written statement to Oakland police officers who showed up at the scene. Requests for comment from Oakland police were not immediately returned.
“I'm sorry for more graphic images of violence against black citizens, but I was here and spoke to the victim (to keep him conscious), perpetrator, several bystanders, and cops,” Marks wrote. “Armed private guards cannot be tolerated in our grocery stores and communities when this is what they do to paying customers. Whole Foods needs to be held accountable — security is NOT selective, it is collective.”
Whole Foods responded on their Facebook page Friday, admitting “there was an altercation that escalated to violence.”
“The graphic images circulating on Facebook and Twitter are disturbing to say the least,” the statement said. “Whole Foods Market considers the safety and security of all team members, customers and members of our community a top priority. The security guard involved in the incident has been suspended, and we are actively investigating the details with our security firm. While we move swiftly to gather the facts, we want to make it clear that Whole Foods Market takes a zero tolerance approach to violence.”
Marks also posted a one-star review of the 230 Bay Place Whole Foods Market on Yelp: "It's time to disarm your guards and put customers first. This young man was violently assaulted by an aggressive security officer while trying to buy groceries with EBT," her comment, which included the graphic photographs, said.
"Horrified customers stayed on the scene for hours," she wrote, adding that they demanded calls to paramedics and "shouted they would never shop at Whole Foods Oakland again."
"I hope that Whole Foods does reveal their fact finding with transparency," Terry De Grace-Morris wrote on Whole Food's Facebook page. "This kind of behavior by law enforcement personnel is no longer tolerated or excused."
Chris Rock is just a weak imitation of the Wayans Brothers and their social commentary; he does have some funny stuff though. Check him out in one of his early roles (which I’m sure he disowns today because of its scathing commentary on blacks): “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka”. Then check out an even better one with some of the Wayans: “Don’t be a Menace To South Central When You’re Drinking Your Juice in the Hood”.
Two of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and which will NEVER be made remade.
“Hollywood Shuffle” was another good one, the bit on the “Black Acting School” was classic.
oh they are around here and there. I see the funny little boxy cars and even saw a Bernie Sanders sticker. They must really be suffering though, since every time I turn around there’s another gun show at the Shrine lol
Nice to know there’s another FReeper around town :)
Thanks; I have to see that when I have a chance.
He probably just got tired of watching able-bodied grifters steal his money.
If you think WF is bad,go over to the Berkeley Bowl.
That place is “Portlandia” times 2.
He hit on a real nerve, but once people started "noticing" that what he said had merit, nowadays doesn't want to be considered some kind of suckup or Uncle Tom.
I went there to buy malt syrup once. Behind enemy lines.
I grew up in Carteret. Glad I didn’t leave anything there so I don’t have to go back.
Hearing from S.F. friends that he had a STOLEN EBT card and was busted; started pushing people around, starting with female cashier. Nasty thug with baggy pants with underwear showing. WF wants to sweep under rug to avoid BLM riots
I’ve been to that WF. They have historic photos of Oakland on the stairs coming down from the roof parking lot. Except one of the photos has the Cathedral of Learning—Oakland, PA, part of Pittsburgh. LOL.
A common sentiment; a few co-workers have headed south in the past couple of years (and they weren’t retiring). They’ve left for Virginia and the Carolinas; it seems that young people, once their parents have passed on and there are no other ties to this area, pack up & leave.
The Whole Foods where I shop occasionally has had a guard for a few years, yet this particular city in Ventura County, Calif. is not a ‘rough neighborhood.’
Don’t know if the guard is armed or not.
Will look closer the next time to see if he is armed, and I think I will simply ask him why he’s there.
There’s a Norwegian cheese I can buy only at Whole Foods, and I purchase additional items at the same time.
On the ‘other side of me,’ in another city - which is absoLUTEly NOT in a rough neighborhood - I believe Whole Foods has a guard there.
Perhaps the high visibility of a guard (at any store, or mall) prevents shop-lifting - - - ?
My very much younger sister left Long Island about 2 years ago, and now lives in N. Carolina with husband and young son.
They went to a wedding in New York maybe 6 months ago, and are now certain why they left New York - - -
I understand; it is becoming very Third World here. Not just the people, but because the money has run out everything is deteriorating. Stop signs are overgrown with low-hanging branches (think about that!), road surfaces are horrible, and nothing is maintained (but our swollen ranks of public employees get paid!)...
‘___stop signs are overgrown_______________’
Quite some years ago, many drivers in parts of Long Island (Suffolk County, anyway-) didn’t even STOP at a visible stop sign - !
Our freeways here in Calif. are maintained a heck of a lot better than back east, in New York/Long Island.
And virtually no one who uses the term “food desert” will admit that is the reason they come to exist.
Must be a black customer and black security guard. The guard knew a scam was going down and a fist fight ensued. The customer threw the first blows and ended up on the sidewalk outside oozing blood
That’s my take on the situation
Moral of the story is don’t try to fight the security gauard. Customer was prolly on drugs or drunk and figured he could.
Thanks for the alleged details. Sounds about right to me
Historically our roads had been pretty good, but they require a lot of maintenance (heavy traffic with heavy vehicles), and really run into problems today when people who were riding donkeys a couple of weeks ago are imported here and given drivers licenses. Just as irritating & dangerous as texting while driving is the complete lack of use of blinkers/turn indicators...
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