Oregon hotel apologizes a week after kicking out black man
Saturday December 29, 2018
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"He's calling the cops on me because I'm taking a phone call at the DoubleTree hotel," Massey says in the video. "I have not moved, I have been sitting here the whole time and they're calling the police on me because I'm taking a phone call in the lobby. Did you ask any of those people walking by what room they were staying in? No."
General manager Paul Peralta said in a statement earlier this week that the hotel reached out to Massey to try to reach a resolution, noting the incident was "likely the result of a misunderstanding between our hotel and guest."
Massey said through his attorneys Thursday that he wasn't interested in a closed-door discussion.
"The hotel has requested a private discussion, but Mr. Massey was publicly humiliated," attorneys Gregory and Jason Kafoury of the law firm Kafoury and McDougal wrote in a statement.
The hotel should publicly answer why security approached and questioned Massey and explain how, as the guard said, Massey was a threat to security, his lawyers said.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Friday that it was deeply troubling to hear about Massey's experience.
"No one should be treated this way, and I hope this serves as a catalyst for necessary changes that address the systemic nature of discrimination of all forms," he wrote on Twitter.
It's the latest high-profile incident in which black people have been removed from businesses.
Last month, police in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland helped the owner of a frozen yogurt shop kick out a black man because employees said they felt uncomfortable.
Police in Philadelphia in April arrested two black men at a Starbucks coffee shop after a manager called police to say they refused to make a purchase or leave.
Police, other city officials and business owners in those incidents later apologized.
Oregon hotel apologizes a week after kicking out black man
PORTLAND, Ore. — Attorneys for a black man who was kicked out of an Oregon hotel last week say they want a public explanation for why he was told to leave. Nearly a week later, the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Portland apologized Friday to