Portland hotel security calls cops on black guest in lobby
Portland OR December 27 2018 A series of Instagram videos by a black guest of the DoubleTree Portland hotel says that he was accused of loitering in a racism-fueled incident.
A series of Instagram videos by a black guest of the DoubleTree Portland hotel says that he was accused of loitering in a racism-fueled incident.
Jermaine Massey had just seen Travis Scott perform at the Moda Center on Sunday night and returned to his hotel when he saw that his mother had called.
She lives on the East Coast, so he assumed if she called so late, something must be wrong. So he sat down in the lobby of the DoubleTree Hotel in the Lloyd District to take the call before going up to his room.
Massey recounted what came next in a series of Instagram videos that have gone viral. Massey, from Kent, Washington, says in them that he was targeted by a security guard because he is black and that this led to Massey being kicked out of the hotel and having to find a new one near midnight.
It was his first time in Portland.
DoubleTree management released a statement that said the whole incident was a misunderstanding and that the hotel staff does not discriminate against people based on race.
Several people picked up the hashtag #HotelEarl after the name on the security guard’s badge. They, and Massey, draw parallels between his experience and similar incidents where people of color have had the cops called for political canvassing, renting an Airbnb or having a barbecue.
Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat who is running for a second term this fall in the state House, said she was knocking on doors and talking to residents for two hours along Southeast 125th Avenue in Clackamas. She was taking notes on her cellphone from the conversation she’d had with someone at the second to last of about 30 homes on her list around 5:10 p.m. when a Clackamas County deputy pulled up to her.
One of Massey’s videos shows where he was sitting, tucked away in a group of comfortable chairs away from the main part of the lobby. Massey, 34, said he was sitting there when a white security guard approached him and interrupted Massey’s phone call to ask if Massey was a staying at the hotel.
Massey said he did. The guard then asked what room number.
According to Massey, that is when he became irritated and told the guard that he was on a phone call and that he doesn’t remember his room number off the top of his head.
The guard then had a manager call police. In the recording of the incident Massey posted, the guard says that he was calling the cops because Massey was loitering, despite Massey holding his room key card.
Massey said in a video after the incident that the guard told him he thought Massey was a threat to other people’s safety.
Massey, who was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with bright lettering, jeans and sneakers, contended that the white guests who were walking in and out of the hotel and milling about the lobby were not stopped. Several times, he suggests that he was singled out because he was black, to which neither the manager or guard responds.
After the manager called the police, he asked Massey and the guard what happened and told Massey to “calm down” and that the guard had the right to alert police and wouldn’t have done so without cause.
Portland police then arrived and escorted Massey out of the hotel. He was allowed to get his belongings from his room and check out at the front desk while police waited.
A police report describes Massey as very angry and loud. Once they arrived, the police officers told Massey to go ahead and check out of the hotel because the dispute escalated.
An officer told Massey outside the hotel that he had no way of knowing if the incident was fueled by racism, but that Massey should follow up with his complaints with hotel management so he wouldn’t have to be arrested for trespassing.
Massey then declined a ride to another hotel and took a Lyft to the Sheraton near the airport, according to the videos.
“It just goes to show you that racism is still alive and well man,” Massey said from his room at the Sheraton that night. “This was a real incident where I could’ve gone to jail if I responded in a different way.”
Massey did not respond to interview requests. He posted videos and tweets about the incident on several social media platforms, which gained steam over night and into Monday morning. Many call for the security guard and manager to be fired. Others point that Massey is part of a larger trend of black people being seen as a threat for existing.
Paul Peralta, general manager of the DoubleTree, said Monday that he has reached out to Massey to try to amend the situation.
“Safety and security of our guests and associates is our top priority at the Doubletree by Hilton Portland,” Peralta said in a statement. “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 place of public accommodation and do not discriminate against any individuals or groups.”
Oregonlive
