Photo: Getty Images/ TikTok: @babystorme
A Citibank employee racially profiled a Black woman trying to deposit a $30,000 check her dad gave her to pay rent.
The woman, musician Babystorme, recorded the dehumanizing experience, which involved the bank teller refusing to accept her check, illegally locking her inside of the branch, and calling the police on her.
Babystorme, who has banked with Citibank for the past 5 years, went to deposit her rent money at a Citibank located in Los Angeles, California when the branch’s teller told her she was unable to verify the $30,000 check and needed to confiscate it.
In a now-viral TikTok, Babstorme shared details from her experience.
“Do you confiscate everyone’s checks who comes in here that you can’t verify?" Babystorme recalled asking the bank teller. "She was like no. I said ok then why are you confiscating mine?"
Babystorme noted that the teller had nothing to say in response to her question.
Babystorme suggested the bank teller contact her dad who gifted her the check-in question, but the bank refused to follow through and seek verification with no explanation.
As Babystorme was capturing the incident on camera, the branch tried to take the evidence from her phone. When their attempt to take the video failed, a teller called the cops and proceeded to lock the musician inside of the bank to prevent her from leaving.
She shared on TikTok that she plans to sue the bank for profiling. She also clarified the check was signed and “perfectly fine,” and noted that the tellers did not attempt to deposit the check before beginning their baseless “investigation.”
The incident made its way to Twitter where users reacted to the Citibank employee’s racist behavior toward Babystorme.
See their reactions below.
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