Milwaukee Bucks forward John Henson said he was racially profiled at a jewelry store in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, Monday. Henson claimed the employees locked the doors when he arrived, and may have called the police on him.
The 24-year-old professional basketball player felt he was discriminated because of his race in an encounter he had with employees of Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers and police.
Writing in a lengthy Instagram post, John detailed his horrifying experience at the high-end jewelry store. The NBA star was going to shop for a watch during “regular business hours” but was allegedly denied service when the store’s employees locked the entrance and told him to go away. He said he rang the doorbell and saw employees disappear to the back before two cops arrived five minutes later.
Henson took a photo of the front of Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers on Instagram and added his account of the incident in the caption. He also said the police asked him where he got his car, which was from a sponsorship with a local dealership.
According to Henson's post, police questioned him about the Chevrolet vehicle he was driving and ran his license plate. Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers employees had originally retreated to the back of the store when Henson rang the doorbell, but the officers later informed them that it was safe to come out.
“I told them I was just trying to look at a watch,” Henson wrote. “[The officer] then had to go in the back and tell them to come out [and] it was safe but this is after they ran my plates and I overheard them talking about doing more of a background check on the car. The employees finally came out of the back and proceeded to conduct business like they previously were as we walked up.”
The owner of the store, Thomas Dixon, spoke with wisn.com about the incident, stating it was the car, not Henson, that caused his employees to close their doors.
Dixon said the store has had three armed robberies in 18 months, and one of the suspect vehicles involved is from the same dealership as Henson’s vehicle. Dixon said when employees saw the vehicle with dealer plates, they became suspicious based on the previous robberies.
Dixon said the misunderstanding is over the vehicle involved, and was not due to racial profiling.
John Henson is now calling for action against future acts of racial discrimination. “This was one of the the most degrading and racially prejudice things I’ve ever experienced in life and wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” John wrote. “You have no right to profile someone because of their race and nationality and this incident needs to be brought to light and I urge anyone who ever is thinking of shopping here reads this and doesn’t bring any business to this discriminatory place.”
Henson just recently signed a four-year $44 million contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks
