If you're thinking of shopping at Whole Foods, don't. According to Zoe Marks, a witness, a black man who tried it in Oakland was beaten unconscious:
In Oakland less than four hours and I just saw a young man violently assaulted by an armed security guard at Whole Foods - slammed repeatedly against concrete pillars, put in a chokehold, restrained, and suffocated until he was thrown face down on the pavement unconscious. The guard locked him out of the store despite the fact he was immobile.
Not a single employee called the paramedics. He was trying to buy groceries with his EBT card and ended up in a stretcher.
ThinkProgress headlined their article:
Private Security At Whole Foods Beats Black Man Unconscious, Leaves Him In A Pool Of His Own Blood
...which lacks snap but makes up for it with accuracy.
The Oakland Tribune wrote:
OAKLAND -- Whole Foods Market has fired a security guard after a violent altercation with a customer at an Oakland store, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The alleged assault began about 9:30 p.m. Thursday inside the market on Bay Place near Lake Merritt, according to spokeswoman Beth Krauss and a witness. Oakland police are investigating the incident as an assault.
The guard, who has not been named, was initially suspended but on Friday afternoon Krauss said the guard's suspension would be permanent.
Well...that's OK, then...no harm, no foul, right?
Wrong.
I don't shop at Whole Foods but if I did, I'd stop. I urge everyone to do likewise.
I am so heartily fucking sick of this shit.