A man from West Des Moines has claimed he was racially profiled by staff at a Waconia Target store when he tried to purchase headphones.

West Des Moines resident James Wright said that when he went to the store to buy headphones, he was told by a store employee that company policy states customers aren’t allowed to touch items before purchase.

When Wright asked the store manager if this was their policy, the manager said policy changes frequently. Wright told local media that he then left the store and called Target’s “corporate team,” who said customers are allowed to handle items before they are purchased.

When Wright went back into the store, he claims he was told he could hold the headphones. On camera, a male target employee is seen in Wright’s two-minute clip denying racially profiling Wright before saying he would admit it if it meant Wright would leave the store. The man then agrees a number of times that he racially profiled Wright.

Wright shared the footage to Facebook on February 24. At the end of the video, he tells the store’s manager that he was racially profiled, who asked him to turn off the camera before apologizing for the incident and walking away.

Wright’s clip had earned over 150,000 views at the time of writing. He told Storyful that since the video went viral he hadn’t “heard anything” from Target. He added that before the video gained attention the company “assurred” him that “the customer should be able to handle and observe any product they wish to purchase, even if it is locked up.” Credit: James Wright via Storyful