Black guest's call to mom from a hotel lobby ended up with manager calling the cops

Dec 27, 2018

03:16 P.M.

A black hotel guest had the cops called on him by the security while taking a phone call with his mom. He was eventually evicted from the premises.

Jermaine Massey, a guest at the Double Tree Hotel, in Portland, Oregon was racially profiled and then evicted from the hotel, for, as claimed by Massey, no other reason than being black.

Massey, who lives in Washington State, was attending a Travis Scott concert at the Moda Centre. It was his first time in Portland.

Upon returning from the concert, he found that he had missed a call from his mum and decided to call her immediately, so he sat alone in a remote part of the lobby of the hotel and proceeded to make the call.

A security guard at the hotel noticed this, accused him of trespassing, and asked him to leave. The guard then directed the manager to call the cops.

When the cops arrived, he explained himself, but they only said that since the hotel had asked him to leave, it would be trespassing if he didn’t comply and may be thrown in jail for it. He then retrieved his items from his room and left the hotel without a refund.

Massey revealed all through a post on Instagram; a series of recorded videos, which showed the encounter between the security guard, the manager and himself. It had a long caption:.

‘I cannot believe the level of professionalism that this hotel property had with me tonight,’

‘It is never OK to discriminate against guests for the color of their skin.’

He ended the caption with,

‘I had my hotel key in my hand the entire conversation; he knew I was a guest. He wanted to prove a point and did it in the worst way. Not really shocked that this happened but just extremely disappointed. I will be seeking justice. Believe that.’

The hotel management has since told the Oregonian that the incident was a misunderstanding and not racial.

‘Safety and security of our guests and associates is our top priority at the Doubletree by Hilton Portland. This unfortunate incident is likely the result of a misunderstanding between our hotel and guest. We are sorry that this matter ended the way it did. We are a place of public accommodation and do not discriminate against any individuals or groups,’ -the hotel said

Portland police also told news outlets that they offered to find another lodging but he declined. Massey countered and said that he sought a room at the Sheraton by himself.

In another incident of racial profiling, an African-American man, Chika Okafor, claimed to have been racially profiled by a neighbor in a New York City apartment building.

It was reported that he posted on Facebook, a video of his friend, also black, and himself, being confronted by a white neighbor while waiting for a Lyft ride. The unidentified man, seemingly in his 50s, questioned him about where he lived.

Okafor wrote on his Facebook page

‘While I was with my friend Cassius Flemming waiting for a Lyft ride on the first floor of the building that I have lived in since mid-December of last year, this man interrogated me about where I live. As you can see, he thought that he was entitled to know who I was and where I lived simply because, according to him, he lived there for 27 years.
The arrogance is appalling but honestly, not surprising because far too many times people of color have been victims of this kind of behavior.’

This is only another incident of white people hassling blacks going about routine activities.