Posted on 03/18/2010 7:03:57 PM PDT by grundle
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- A racial comment made over the public-address system at a Walmart store in southern New Jersey is being investigated as a possible bias crime, a prosecutor's office said Thursday.
A male voice came over the system Sunday evening and calmly announced: "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now."
The announcement, at the Washington Township store, provoked an immediate apology from the store manager and a promise from company officials to try to determine how it happened.
Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton began an investigation Monday and his office said in a statement Thursday that some of the system phones are accessible to the public and not all are in range of security cameras.
Investigators said the announcement could have been made from any of about two dozen phones inside the store. They reviewed video from store cameras, but did not disclose what, if anything, was discovered.
Office spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld said in the statement that its victim-witness unit has contacted the store's management, offering counseling services to anyone affected by the announcement. The county's Human Relations Commission was offering similar help.
Officials say several people have come forward and expressed interest in getting counseling.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo Lopez, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer was working to reduce the number of phones accessible to the public and with public-address capabilities.
Company officials have said the announcement was "unacceptable."
While it was unclear whether a rogue patron or an employee was responsible for the comment, many customers at the time expressed anger to store management.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Oh for cripes sake. IT WAS A PRANK. GET OVER IT!
SirJohn, you are 100% correct.
As a caucasian, I would bust out laughing if I heard that broadcasted!
Then again, I also have a sense of humor, something sorely missing in urban America.
Just to be clear, this area is not urban. Very nice series of strip and big box stores, I was there tonight.
IF we lived in a white racist country, Walmart wouldn’t be apologizing and changing their public address systems, the government wouldn’t be offering counseling, the patrons wouldn’t be angrily protesting, and the prosecutor wouldn’t be investigating a possible “bias crime”.
If we did live in a racist country such an announcement would be troubling, however I can tell you that living in this area I have NEVER seen anything but black customers being given deferential service, but then let’s have AP turn something inconsaequential into a worldwide incident.
Counseling?
Really?
For what?!
My point was that your counter-example of yelling fire in a crowded theater is not relevant to a dicussion of a First Amendment case of prosecution for a bias crime.
Another example is defamation - if you slander a private person, those mere words are not protected by the First Amendment. But that also is not relevant to a discussion of a First Amendment case of prosecution for a bias crime.
I think if this is a bystander who grabbed the phone without authorization and said what he said, he is protected under the First Amendment from bias crime prosecution for the content of what he said. Maybe the store could get him for some sort of trespassing, however.
On the other hand, if it was an employee who grabbed the phone and said what he said, Wal-Mart may well be in violation of state anti-discrimination laws applicable to public accomodations.
Thank you. Obviously I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. ;-)
This whole thing smells to high heaven. THe prosecutor and counseling service?
I would have loved to have heard the accent, if any, of the male voice making the announcement.
Oh for cripes sake. IT WAS A PRANK. GET OVER IT
I agree, suddenly thin skins become legal challenges.....pathetic
There's a more recent one, I think, but I can't recall the name. The Brandenburg rule says that the speech has to be intended to incite imminent, lawless action.
They should start with the lefties.
It’s obvious to me that he just wanted them to move their Cadillacs from the handicap parking. The usual double parking in the fire lane was ok!
Thanks, gives me a starting point. ;-)
What's next, some kids TPing the wrong house for goodness sakes?
We are a Nation of whimpering Children.
I find that very hard to believe.
Is not racism predicated upon the race of the participants? Being mitigated by similarity rather dissimilarity? If we don't even know the racial component of the first half of the equation, then how are we to conclude, or even surmise, anything?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.