Guest kicked out of hotel for taking phone call in lobby says he was racially profiled: 'I will not stand for injustice'

A man who was accused of trespassing in the lobby of a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel he’d already checked into says he was racially profiled, “treated unfairly” and ejected from the property, for reasons that are “still unclear” to him. Now he’s seeking justice.

Jermaine Massey was in Portland, Ore., to attend a Travis Scott concert at the Moda Center and had booked a room at the nearby DoubleTree. On Dec. 22, he received a phone call from his mother, who lives on the East Coast. Worried that the call might be an emergency because it came in so late, he decided to take it right in the hotel lobby, according to the account he posted on Instagram. Massey, who is black, was carrying his room key when he says he was approached by a white security guard named Earl, who accused him of loitering. The situation escalated quickly.

Massey said Earl interrupted his phone call to ask whether he was staying in the hotel and what room he was checked into. “I said, ‘I’m having a conversation right now. Can you leave me alone right now?'” Massey replied, though he says he did let the guard know he was a paid guest. Earl decided to alert the police anyway because Massey was “not complying” with what the guard was asking, according to Massey. “He said that I was a safety threat to the other guests and that I was trespassing.”

“The Portland police will be here in a minute,” Earl is heard saying in one of the videos Massey published online. When asked why, Earl replies, “to escort you off of the property.” “Because what? And I’m staying here?” Massey replies incredulously, as Earl responds, “Not anymore.” Massey says there were other guests in the lobby at the time of the confrontation, and none of them were questioned by the guard.

In another video, the hotel manager, who Massey identifies as Luis, appears to be placing the phone call to authorities. Massey asks the manager why he’s calling the police. “I was just asked to,” Luis responds. “So you’re just going to follow directions? You’re not going to ask questions before you call the cops on me?” Massey asks. “If you could just calm down,” Luis is heard saying before asking what the issue is.

Massey seems stunned that the manager followed the guard’s orders before assessing the situation. In the final video, he is heard pleading his case to a first-responding police officer, who concludes, “Earl’s in control of the property.”

Massey writes, “I explained my side of the story and they didn’t want to hear it. 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.”

Massey says he was allowed to retrieve his personal belongings from his hotel room before he was escorted out of the DoubleTree hotel by police officers close to midnight. He said he didn’t receive a refund.

Massey took a Lyft to a Sheraton hotel near the airport, according to the Oregonian. There, he was left to ponder the confrontation and what he might have done to offend Earl. “I was sitting in the lobby, minding my business, taking a phone call,” he concluded, wondering aloud whether his black hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers might have made him a target — in addition to his race. “He questioned me, thinking I was not a legitimate patron at the hotel. … It wasn’t right.”

Massey says his mother overheard much of the incident, and at one point he even called his wife so she could listen in.

“Racism is still alive and well, man,” Massey said in a video shot in his Sheraton hotel room. “It’s sad that people have to go through these things. And I know I’m not the only one, I’m not the first and I’m not the last. But I will not stand for injustice.”

He pointed out that complying with the injustice was his only safe option. “I could have gone to jail had I responded a different way,” he said.

Yahoo Lifestyle spoke with Sergeant Chris Burley, Public Information Officer for the Portland Police Bureau. Sargeant Burley said the Police Bureau contacted Massey on Dec. 24 to find out how they could assist him. He also said in a statement:

“On December 22, 2018, employees at the DoubleTree Lloyd Center, located at 1000 Northeast Multnomah Boulevard, requested officers respond to the location regarding a person who hotel staff were trespassing from the 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. 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.”

Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to representatives of DoubleTree by Hilton for their account of the incident and will update this post with new information when they respond. According to the Oregonian, Paul Peralta, general manager of the DoubleTree, has reached out to Massey to try to amend the situation. He released a statement that reads:

“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. We are place of public accommodation and do not discriminate against any individuals or groups.”

The incident has picked up steam on social media, inspiring hashtags like #HotelEarl and #TakingMomsCallWhileBlack and being dubbed “the latest example of white people calling the cops on black people” — calling to mind a spate of high-profile, seemingly racially motivated incidents that have happened recently in public places like corner stores and parking lots. In one case, a white woman even called the police on her black neighbor for trying to enter the apartment building they both live in.

People on Twitter are demanding a better response from DoubleTree. Some users are calling for the guard’s firing, while others are vowing to boycott Hilton Hotels entirely.

Yahoo Lifestyle has also reached out to Massey for updates on the incident.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Man says he was racially profiled after bank teller calls police when he attempts to cash his paycheck

• Dunkin’ Donuts owner calls police on woman who tries to use store’s free Wi-Fi

• Black teens were allegedly kicked out of mall over no-hoodie policy, so 4 white women wore hoodies ‘just to see what would happen’

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.