Black man is handcuffed in front of his kids after being falsely accused of stealing in viral video

Ro Lockett and one of his friends, Brandon Kibart, were shopping at the Stonebriar Centre mall in Frisco, Texas, when they were falsely accused of stealing.

Newsweek reported that an employee of a Finish Line store accused both men of shoplifting approximately $600 worth of goods. The worker allegedly followed Lockett, his two children, and Kibart into a T-Mobile store while the mall’s police arrived.

Once there, they explained the situation and handcuffed both men. At that moment, Lockett’s eldest son, who is 10 years old, started recording to make sure to have on camera everything in case something “off” happened.

THE INCIDENT

In the video, Kibart and Lockett appeared talking in a calm way to the officers while waiting for an employee of the store where they supposedly stole from arrived and verified they purchased the goods they got in their bags.

Once the lady got there, she noticed that the receipts had all the items in the bags. After about eight minutes, the officers removed the handcuffs and Lockett held the camera to complain about the situation.

THE OUTCOME

Lockett said, “this is America,” comparing the situation with Childish Gambino’s hit song of the same name. At the end of the clip, the man pointed out that the officers did a great job and that it was not their fault.

As a YouTube content creator, Lockett uploaded the video on his channel, wherein he revealed that his children were also searched. “Thank GOD, I remembered "the talk” I was taught as a child, that being Black, I'm presumed guilty until proven innocent in America...something I never understood or felt applied to me until this.”

ANOTHER ARREST IN A MALL

Unfortunately, it is not the first time that someone gets arrested in a mall for no apparent reason. Kevin McKenzie noticed that the Wolfchase Galleria officers questioned a group of black young people in Memphis due to their clothing, so he started recording.

Kevin asked the officers arresting the young black man for a reason, to what they said “the hoodie policy,” which states that no customer can be in the mall wearing a hoodie or concealing his identity for safety reasons.

Since Kevin considered that the policy was discriminatory, he started recording. Soon later, a security guard told him that videotaping was not allowed in the mall either and ordered him to put his phone away and to leave.

A policeman told Kevin that he should follow the security guard’s instructions or he would arrest him. In less than five seconds, the officer handcuffed and took him to the mall security room. Kevin was later given a misdemeanor citation and taken back to the mall.