Police in New Jersey arrested a teenager in connection with a public-address-system announcement telling “all blacks” to leave a Wal-Mart store, a police spokesman said.
The 16-year-old boy is from Atlantic County, New Jersey, said deputy police chief John Dalesandro of the Washington Township Police Department. The suspect was arrested Friday in Atlantic County on bias intimidation and harassment charges, police said in a statement Saturday. He is in custody of his parents, police said.
Gloucester County prosecutors say that shortly before 5 p.m. on March 14, an unidentified male accessed the public address system at the Turnersville, New Jersey, Wal-Mart Supercenter Store. “All blacks need to leave the store,” the voice announced. Store management contacted the Washington Township Police Department, which opened an investigation in conjunction with the county prosecutor’s office, Dalesandro said.