John Henson tells of racist experience at Milwaukee jewelry store
The people at Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers in Milwaukee must not be big basketball fans. Or fans of general human decency, if a story told by Milwaukee Bucks center John Henson on Monday is accurate.
Henson posted the following story on Instagram, telling of a racially prejudiced experience he had there when attempting to shop for a watch:
Henson signed a reported four-year, $44-million extension with the Bucks earlier this month. The jeweler is located just over a mile away from the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Bucks' home arena.
The store's owner, Thomas Dixon, told WISN 12 the incident was a misunderstanding based on Henson's vehicle. Dixon claimed the store has been robbed three times in 18 months, with one of the suspects using a car from the same dealership that Henson's is from.
That explanation doesn't quite hold water with a statement from The Whitefish Bay Police Department. While they report having been called about suspicious activity at the store recently, and for incidents of theft in the past, they also indicate the store's employee wasn't satisfied by the police confirming Henson as a Buck, instead asking officers to stay on the scene while Henson shopped.
The statement is copied in part below, courtesy of Deadspin:
On Monday, 10/19/15 at 1:20 pm, Whitefish Bay officers were dispatched to Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers as the Red Tahoe had returned. Officers met up in front of 5500 N. Berkeley which is around the corner from Schwanke-Kasten.. (sic) They observed two men in front of the store. The officer ran the license plate and it came back to a Ford dealership and came back as “No Vehicle Attached” and was not listed as stolen.
The two Whitefish Bay officers approached the two men in front of Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers and asked what was going on. A man, later identified as John Henson, informed the officer that he was there to buy his first Rolex, but every time he tries the door, it’s locked and they don’t let him in. One of the officers asks him about the dealer plates on the Tahoe. He advises the officer that he plays for the Milwaukee Bucks and that Bucks players get vehicles from this dealership. Neither officer asked Mr. Henson or his companion for driver licenses or any other identification.
The officer called dispatch to request that a Schwanke-Kasten employee come to the front door. The employee told the dispatcher to have the officer come to the back door. After my officer informed the Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers employee that it was a Milwaukee Buck, the employee came to the front door and let them in. The employee requested that an officer stand by as they looked at the Rolexes, our officers refused and left the store. The officers then left the area.