A shopper in Greenwood, Indiana, is alleging on TikTok that he was racially profiled while visiting a local flea market called Emporium 31. The man claimed he was the only person of color in the store and was told to remove his bag because of “store policy,” even though he said several other customers were allowed to walk around with theirs.
According to him, although he carried his cash in the bag and wanted to keep it close for safety reasons, he had first complied with their request by stepping outside to take off his bag before returning. However, since he felt the policy had been applied only to him, he approached three employees who were all standing at the counter: two women, one elderly and one middle-aged, and a younger man, to question them about it.
As if to prove his point, while he was speaking to the staff, another customer even walked by with a small shoulder bag hanging from her arm. But instead of providing clarification, one employee replied curtly, telling him to “hit the door.” The remark made the man chuckle in disbelief before he responded that he was only trying to ask a question. The elderly employee told him that they were simply following store rules and could not change the policy since they did not own the place. The shopper repeated that he understood but wanted to know why he was the only one approached.
More on What Happened
Another person who appeared to be with the man later stepped forward and tried to reason with the staff, saying they could have defused the situation by apologizing. Still, the elderly employee made a dismissive hand gesture, waving her fingers toward him as if to send him away, and said “bye.” Laughing incredulously, the man responded, “Bye-bye, bye-bye, she says. Yeah, Greenwood’s going to love this one.”
Clearly done with the back-and-forth, the customer walked away from the counter and began filming inside the store, threatening that his school would feature the video on its radio station. The employees did not seem fazed by his statement as they continued working while he recorded around the store.
Online Reaction to the Greenwood Store Video
In the comments, some sympathized with him and felt the staff did not handle the situation well. “This is insane. I’m so sorry, dude,” one person commented. Another said, “I can’t believe how they handled this.” A third wrote, “Way to stand ur ground.”
A few people even vowed never to shop at the store again. “Yikes, this is [expletive] disgusting,” one comment read. “I’m so sorry this happened to you! I’m never going to any of their stores ever again.” Someone else added, “I hope more people see this.”
