A teenage boy in Wichita, Kansas was arrested at the movie theaters after the manager pressed him about sagging pants.
14-year-old Alonzo Taylor Jr. was hanging out with a group of friends at the East Warren 20 movie theater earlier this week when the manager began shouting and threatening to call the police on him if he refused to pull up his pants.
“A couple of seconds after leaving the concessions counter, the manager walked up and said to pull up your pants or you’ll be escorted,” Taylor told KAKE news station.
The teen boy had a hand full of popcorn and drinks which made it hard for him to continuously pull his pants up with no belt. Just as the teen walked over to the counter to set his items to get a grip on his sagging pants, the manager told him, “You’re going to have to leave. I don’t care what you did. You’re trespassing.”
Taylor was then arrested by officers after he tried following the manager’s commands. He believes he was racially profiled because he’s Black.
“I just don’t want my son’s record to be messed up over sagging and to be labeled as a trespasser,” said Ruth Dennis, the boy’s mother.
She added that her son is a good child who doesn’t get in trouble and she’d hate to see her son’s record destroyed over sagging pants.
Taylor told the news station that he’d rather travel to a further movie theater than East Warren because he doesn’t feel welcome.
“If he’s (manager) there, I honestly don’t want to go back… I’d rather go to a movie further than that,” the 14-year-old relayed.
One of the mothers of Taylor’s friends Kali Kerr posted on her Facebook page and said, “This boy is the most respectful middle school boy I’ve met. I am appalled that this 14-year-old kid knows what handcuffs feel like.”
The police are reportedly reviewing the incident caught on surveillance footage and determine if the teen will be facing any charges.