A Black man claims he was barred from purchasing a firearm at Walmart because of his race, despite having a license to carry.
A video of the incident shows the unidentified man arguing with a Walmart employee and demanding an explanation for why the retail giant refused to sell him a firearm. The store worker replied that he was “uncomfortable” with making the sale.
“It’s uncomfortable because it’s a red flag for us that you seem a little bit antsy to purchase it,” the employee is heard saying.
“I got a license, man!” the customer exclaims. “What are you talking about?”
The Walmart worker goes on to allege that the customer didn’t have a license when he first applied to purchase the firearm, which the man vehemently denied. The customer explains that he’s had a license for some time now and recently used it to buy two guns at Academy Sports + Outdoors. This was no consolation to the employee and his manager, however.
“I’ve been waiting for months to purchase my firearm and I still can’t purchase it because he feels uncomfortable,” the customer says.
That’s when the manager informs the man that his request to purchase the firearm came back as “delayed” and was red-flagged. The customer insisted there was no way he could be red-flagged in the system if he had just purchased two guns from a different store.
“If ya’ll don’t want to see black people buy a firearm just say that,” he tells the manager.
After a call to the FBI to see if he had really been red-flagged, the man claims the agency said it was ultimately Walmart’s decision on whether to sell him the firearm.
It’s unclear at which Walmart the incident took place.
