Teenage boy arrested for racially offensive Walmart announcement

Authorities in Gloucester County, New Jersey have confirmed that a 16-year-old boy was arrested and later released on Friday in connection with a racially offensive announcement made over the public address system in a Walmart store.

The unnamed 16-year-old boy resides in Atlantic County, which like Gloucester County is in the state of New Jersey in the Northeastern U.S., and the Associated Press confirms that the teenager will face charges of harassment and bias intimidation in a juvenile court in the county in which he lives. As reported on Digital Journal earlier in the week the offenses for which the teenager was arrested - it is at this stage unclear if he has legal representation but he was released in to the custody of his parents - occurred at the Walmart store in Turnersville, part of the Washington Township in Gloucester County. Shoppers and staff alike were shocked to hear a male voice come over the public address system in the store last Sunday evening and make the following announcement:

Attention Walmart customers: All black people leave the store now

Following the apologies made at the time to those distressed at hearing the announcement Walmart began assisting the local police in an attempt to identify the culprit. A statement issued by the retail giant on Friday indicated that it was unlikely a Walmart employee was responsible and suggested that the culprit had been identified and the relevant information passed to the police. Furthermore another apology was issued to all "customers and associates who had to listen to something so offensive". Unnamed because of his age the teenager, whose race and criminal record, if he has a criminal past, have not been revealed, was apparently not on his own when he went to the Walmart store last weekend. However at present another teenage boy under investigation has not been charged with any offense. Noting that it has not been established if the announcement was preplanned or a spur-of-the-moment action the Associated Press explains that incidents similar to the one last weekend have taken place in the Turnersville store in recent months but have not been reported to the police. Loretta Winters, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for Gloucester County, is quoted as saying of the unreported incidents:

We are concerned about that, and we're looking into these incidents. We want to work with the community to make sure these types of incidents don't happen

With regard to the teenage boy arrested in connection with the announcement that did come to the attention of the police she added:

I'm assuming this person didn't realize how hurtful his comments were

While Walmart has not come in for any great criticism over the incident the Associated Press does highlight the fact that the world's largest retailer has in the past found itself facing accusations of discrimination against black customers and staff, Hispanic employees, and female members of staff. Reportedly the NAACP considers Walmart to have been active in tackling the discrimination of which it has previously been accused and in some instances has seemingly acknowledged. In its report on the arrest of the teenager allegedly involved in an incident that has attracted international attention the New York Daily News has decided to ask its readers to vote on whether they believe the announcement was indeed "threatening to people in the store" and worthy of criminal charges or whether they believe it was "an offensive prank, but not a crime".