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A day that was supposed to be filled with joy, happiness, and great memories turned into an embarrassing nightmare when a security guard harassed, and discriminated against a newly engaged couple over suspicions of stealing a t-shirt.
According to NBC, Cathy-Marie Hamlet and her new fiance Clyde Jackson visited the Angry Orchard farm Sunday July 21 to celebrate her fiance’s 40th birthday. At the time, she wasn’t aware that she would be proposed to.
As the couple and their friends sat at a table outside of the gift shop, they were approached by a female security guard accusing Jackson of stealing a T-shirt. The guard asked to search his back pocket, and once he emptied the contents of his pockets, nothing was found. The guard left them to be.
However, she would return again, this time she was interested in checking the purse of Hamlet. Hamlet says her purse is way too small to fit a shirt, nonetheless, she emptied her purse, to again reveal nothing was taken.
The couple thought the ordeal was done with. Jackson started his proposal speech, but half way through, the guard returned, for a third time.
This time, the female security guard returned with five more guards according to Hamlet.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were all part of the same party. I have to check all of your purses and pockets,” said the officer.
Hamlet said she became embarrassed and realized this was about race when her white friend offered to have her bag searched but the security guard denied her.
Angry Orchard’s communications director reportedly reached out to the couple to “to try to make things right and prevent something like this from happening again.” However, Hamlet said the damage was already done, “I feel confused and conflicted over what to do now and how to move forward, that one of the happiest moments of my life could be partially overshadowed like this, it’s sad that in 2019 we still need to have these conversations.”
