Hotel Called Police On African-American Man Talking On Phone In Lobby

An African-American man accused a hotel in Portland, Oregon, of racially profiling him, by alerting the police when they saw him talking on his phone in the lobby.

Jermaine Massey, 34, from Kent, Washington, took to his Instagram page to post a series of videos, where he recounted an incident that took place when he was staying at the DoubleTree hotel in Portland, over the weekend, after he had flown in to attend a Travis Scott concert.

On Sunday, Massey’s mother, who lives in the East Coast, called him late at night to check on him and the man received the call in the hotel lobby. Moments later, a security guard of the hotel, identified as “Earl”, came up to him and asked him whether he was a guest staying there.

Since he was on a call, Massey claimed he told the guard that he could not remember his room number. Earl, however, told him to leave the facility and asked the manager to call the police.

“He said that I was a safety threat to the other guests and that I was trespassing and said that I was a disturbance because I took a personal phone call from my mom in a more remote area of the lobby,” Massey wrote on Instagram.

In one of the recordings posted by Massey, the hotel guard kept on insisting that he did nothing wrong by calling the police because he thought Massey was loitering. However, Massey could be seen holding his hotel key card at all times.

“I had my hotel key in my hand the entire conversation, he knew I was a guest. He wanted to prove a point and did it in the worst way. Not really shocked that this happened but just extremely disappointed. I will be seeking justice. Believe that,” Massey wrote.

By the time the police arrived at the hotel, the dispute between Massey and the hotel staff had already escalated.

“They already had in their minds that they didn’t want me there so I waited for the cops to show up and when they did, I explained my side of the story and they didn’t want to hear it. They asked me if I had personal items in my room [which of course I did] and asked me to go retrieve them. They told me that since the hotel requested me to leave, that if I didn’t I would be considered a trespasser and would be thrown in jail. I complied and cooperated and was not issued a refund for my room. I packed my stuff and went to another hotel,” Massey added.

The Portland Police department told Newsweek that they responded to the scene after getting a tip about someone trespassing on a private property.

“The officer arrived at the location and contacted employees of the DoubleTree Lloyd Center. The employees, who had authority to trespass people from the hotel, requested the officer contact a person in the lobby they had reportedly directed to leave the property. The officer spoke with the man, who gathered his items and left the location,” the statement about the incident read. “Prior to the man departing from the location, the Portland Police Bureau Officer offered the man assistance to a new hotel and at that time the man declined the offer.”

DoubleTree management released a statement Monday denying the allegations and stressing on their strict policy of never discriminating against people of color.

"Safety and security of our guests and associates is our top priority at the Doubletree by Hilton Portland. This unfortunate incident is likely the result of a misunderstanding between our hotel and guest. We are sorry that this matter ended the way it did," the statement read. "We are a place of public accommodation and do not discriminate against any individuals or groups. We have reached out to the guest in order to resolve this matter."