Thousands Protest Shoplifting Death
D E A R B O R N, Mich. -- Some shoppers at Fairlane Town Center saythey don’t doubt allegations that a man who died nearby during astruggle with security guards was targeted because he was black.They say they know because of years of personal experience.
“It’s something about Dearborn,” said Detroit resident PatreceDates, 29. “I don’t feel comfortable in Dearborn.”
Dates, who is black, said mall security guards often follow heras she shops.
Guards Accused Girl of Stealing
Thousands of protesters led by the Rev. Al Sharpton ralliedWednesday outside the Fairlane Town Center Lord & Taylor storewhere Frederick Finley died.
No charges have been filed in the June 22 death. The 32-year-oldwas in the store with friends and family when surveillance camerasallegedly recorded some members of the group shoplifting. Securityguards accused Finley’s 11-year-old stepdaughter of stealing a $4bracelet.
The guards followed the group to the parking lot and tried todetain Finley’s stepdaughter and a family friend, police said.Finley punched one of the guards before he was put in a choke hold,according to the police report. Two autopsies showed Finley died ofasphyxia due to suffocation.
The protesters chanted “No justice, no profits, no justice, nopeace” in a parking lot outside the store in this Detroit suburb.
Police Inspector Dan Wach today estimated the number ofprotesters at somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000, probably closerto 7,000. Earlier estimates had put the crowd at 10,000.
Racial Profiling a ‘Major Problem’
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan routinely fieldscomplaints by minority shoppers who say they were subjected tounreasonable force and detention in area stores simply because oftheir race, the agency’s legal director said Wednesday.
“It’s a major problem in the malls or suburbs, where African-Americans feel they’re suspect the minute they walk into a store,”Michael J. Steinberg said. “Every once in a while, there’s ahigh-profile case like this one which raises awareness of theproblem.”
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