https://www.facebook.com/ashley.jimenez.5205/videos/10106481049980763/
A member of Black Lives Matter Philly and his wife documented what unfolded at a movie theater in Philadelphia, where they went out Friday with their kids to see “Jurassic World.”
Ashley Jimenez filmed the video of her husband Ismael getting into it with a manager at the Cinemark theater after the couple apparently complained about the quality of their movie experience and demanded a refund. They said theater staff wouldn’t even let them go back into the theater to get their kids, and that the next step would be police involvement.
Here was what Ashley Jimenez posted on Facebook along with the video:
Last night at the movies there was a consistent loud beeping noise where we were sitting. After requesting politely to recitify the issue, the managerial staff failed to correct the issue and we had to ask for a refund. The manager then said we had to leave immediately and said we couldn’t go back into the theater and get our children. When we said that is not an option and we were going to get our children, they called the police on us. This video recorded our interaction with the police and the absurdity of the police being called in the first place.#whitefear #complainingwhileblack #yurugu #moneyback #8to12police
She said they complained about a beeping noise and ended up getting the cops called on them. Multiple officers responded to the scene.
“Ask us to leave, why? Because they messed up?” Ismael Jimenez can be heard saying.
“A black person’s considered a threat immediately,” 36-year-old teacher and Black Lives Matter member Ismael Jimenez told Philly.com. “So therefore, if they are defiant to you, instead of actually dealing with the issue, you are calling the police.”
We know Jimenez is affiliated with Black Lives Matter because the verified Facebook page for the Philadelphia chapter of the group identified him as such, likening this to a recent incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks, where two black men who didn’t order anything were arrested while waiting for friends.
On Friday night, BLM Philly member Ismael Jimenez and his wife Ashley were accosted by about a dozen police at the Cinemark here in Philly at 40th and Walnut. Why? Because they had the audacity to demand a refund for poor service and to be allowed reentry into the theater where their children were still located. The theater staff called the police when they attempted to reenter the theater to collect their small children.
This is violence. Calling police on Black people for any minor conflict puts Black lives at risk of death.
Call or email Cinemark and let them know that this behavior is unacceptable.
Philadelphia Police and Starbucks both apologized for that incident, and a $200,000 charitable donation was made. Starbucks also closed stores across America for an afternoon in May to educate employees on racial bias.
The Jimenez family left their kids in the theater with their oldest son, 11, but had a 3-year-old with them at the time of the incident. The parents said their 11-year-old threw up because of the encounter.
It’s not clear if the employee in the video, a white man in a black suit, with a name tag and an ear piece, was the manager who called the police, but he was on scene when authorities arrived and was involved in a back-and-forth with the Jimenez family.
Philly.com reported that no one was arrested and police helped the Jimenez family secure a refund. Police confirmed there was an incident, but did not elaborate further.
[Image via Ashley Jimenez/Facebook screengrab]
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