Milwaukee Bucks forward says he was the victim of racial profiling at a jewelry store

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John Henson, a forward for the Milwaukee Bucks, is heading into his fourth season in the NBA. Earlier this month, he signed a four-year, $44 million contract.

https://instagram.com/p/9B66RnCLqK/

In an Instagram post uploaded today, Henson claims he was the victim of racial profiling during a visit to Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers in Whitefish Bay, Wisc. Henson wrote that after ringing the doorbell of the store twice and receiving no answer, two police cars pulled up and began questioning him about his vehicle.

Here’s the entirety of Henson’s Instagram post:

Went to @schwankekasten jewelry today in White-Fish Bay during regular business hours . They locked the door and told me to go away . After I rang the doorbell twice everyone went to the back. No answered the door or told me what was going on. This was followed by two police cars pulling up and parking across the street and watching me for 5 minutes ( I assumed they were called by the store ) . I was then approached by 2 officers and questioned about the dealer vehicle I was in which is apart of my endorsement deal with Kunes country Chevrolet and asked me what I wanted amongst other things that were just irrelevant to me being there just trying to shop at the store like a normal paying customer would do . I told them I was just trying to look at a watch. He then had to go in the back and tell them to come out 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 . 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 . This store needs to be called out and that’s what I’m doing . 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 .

We reached out for comment from the Whitefish Bay Police department; we’ll update if we hear back.

Michael Rosen is a reporter for Fusion based out of Oakland.

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