Mirage Casino security accused of racial profiling
LAS VEGAS NV June 13 2019 Xstal Campbell, 30, recorded video of her being ID’d and kicked out of the Mirage Hotel and Casino around 1:00 a.m. Monday morning.
She says security approached her and a friend just seconds after they walked through the entrance.
“She said may I see your ID, and we said, okay,” Xstal explained.
Xstal says after the guard verified they were over 21 she continued holding their IDs, and then she started saying their names over a walkie talkie as the women questioned why she wouldn’t just give their IDs back.
After a few minutes, the women say she handed their IDs back and told them to have a great night, which is shown on video.
However, Xstal says as soon as she stopped recording, security kicked them off the property and said they’d be arrested if they ever came back.
Video shows four security guards escorting them off the property while flashing lights at them.
We reached out to MGM Resorts International asking for more information about the encounter, they sent us the following statement:
Security officers routinely check guests’ identification, in accordance with Nevada law, to ensure guests are of age and legally able to visit our properties. In this instance, the guests became agitated and were asked to leave.
Also, MGM Resorts directed News 3 to these notes on the company’s security protocol:
We are not able to public share specifics regarding our security protocols to ensure they remain effective. Regarding the question of name checks: Running a guests’ name is a routine part of security officers’ interactions with guests.
Diversity and inclusion are core values of MGM Resorts and we have strict anti-discrimination policies and training for all employees.
Xstal says that initially, she wasn’t agitated.
“The agitation came from security being called on us for no reason at all, for being treated the way we were treated,” she explained.
Christian Gabroy, a discrimination attorney, says he would need to know more before taking a case like this, but he says there is reason to believe race played a role in how security treated these women.
“Just watching the video I had great concerns of unlawful, unfortunate racial profiling,” he said.
Gabroy went on to say, “Let’s examine the full scenario to make sure there’s not a system failure at MGM or at Mirage that’s targeting or unlawfully targeting our population.”
Xstal says she’s been living in Las Vegas for a long time, and she sees black people treated this way quite often.
She brought up the recent claims of racial profiling against The Cosmopolitan after rapper Meek Mill was denied entry. The Cosmopolitan later apologized.
“It’s something that happens in the city a lot, and I think it’s just normal routine for them to see young black women and men and assume the worst of us,” Xstal said.
She tells News 3 she would like a written apology from MGM properties for how she was treated.
“Eighty percent of African Americans in the latest study are treated differently than someone who is Caucasian or Asian, and someone who wants to say it’s just the ‘race card,’ look at the proof,” said Gabroy.
Gabroy says hotels and casinos are allowed to ID people and ask them to leave, but it’s unlawful to target specific groups and ethnicities in doing so.
KSNV
