Have you ever been wrongfully accused of doing something you didn’t do? Frustrating right? Now, imagine having to deal with that every day of your life – because for some people, that’s their reality. A couple from Jacksonville, FL almost got their lives ruined when they were wrongfully accused of stealing. Now, Walmart is currently facing a lawsuit for racial profiling.

On October 14th, 2024, a man named Raymond Brewster, his wife Nekeeya, and their three daughters went to the City Square Walmart to return clothing that they had just bought the day before. According to News4Jax, Raymond explained that while they were attempting to make the return they were approached by a store security officer who accused them of “shoving items in their bags.” Confused as to why this was happening, the family tried explaining to the officer that they were simply just returning the items they had bought the day before and even showed the receipt they had for proof. According to the Brewsters, the security officer refused to look at the receipt and stated that they had the family on camera stealing. The family was then escorted to the loss of prevention office where they were met by two more police officers. 

While in the office, the security officer explained that they didn’t actually have any footage of Brewster or any of his family members putting items in their bags, so they were released.

“At the end of the day if the loss prevention guy would have listened to us none of this would be happening right now. He did not want to listen. We were immediately guilty of something we didn’t do.” said Brewster to Christina Burgess of the First Coast News.

Now the family is suing Walmart for being “racially profiled, wrongfully imprisoned, defamed and humiliated,” according to the Burgess. The family’s attorney, Rory Diamond, states that this isn’t the first time black customers have been profiled while shopping in their stores. “It’s embarrassing. Walmart needs to do something different,” Brewster stated. 

As of right now, this is still an ongoing investigation and more information about the outcome of this lawsuit is further to come. The question remains, will the Brewster family receive justice?