Vic Mensa has shared a series of Snapchat videos, posted above via Complex, claiming that he had been detained by police for shoplifting from a Barneys location. The rapper said he had just spent $4,000 at the retail store.
In the videos, Mensa claimed police did not know what or where the alleged "theft" took place. "That's the craziest part about it," he said, "I went and bought some ill Saint Laurent boots, some more shit from Barneys, and we get all pulled out the fucking car... And on top of that, they don't even know what they think we stole."
This is not the first time Barneys has been the site of controversial race-based encounters. In August 2014, the New York store agreed to pay $525,000 following an investigation into what the state found as a “disproportionate number of African-American and Latino customers being detained for alleged shoplifting or credit card fraud.” In 2013, when incidents of racial profiling became public knowledge, Jay Z was put under significant pressure to pull his charity clothing collection from Barneys, which he did not do.
The FADER has reached out to Vic Mensa and Barneys for comment.
