Store Owner Issues Apology to Bucks John Henson
20 Oct, 2015
The Milwaukee Bucks’ John Henson met with Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers president Tom Dixon on Tuesday morning at the team’s training center in St. Francis and received an apology for treatment the player received while trying to shop Monday afternoon at the Whitefish Bay store.
Henson was locked out of the store and questioned by Whitefish Bay police before being allowed to enter, and he wrote an Instagram post saying he was a victim of racial profiling.
“He was sincere in his apology,” Henson said of his meeting with Dixon. “He knew that shouldn’t have happened. He’s had some prior incidents, but it still doesn’t make it right for them to do what they did. It’s a real issue, but right now I want to focus on the game tonight (vs. Minnesota) and there will be time to talk about it later. I am going to do some things to raise awareness of situations like that and go from there.”
Henson spoke to reporters following the Bucks shootaround, before they boarded a bus to Madison for a preseason game at the Kohl Center.
Henson’s post received national attention after he used social media to explain what happened to him.
The 24-year-old Henson, who is starting his fourth season with the Bucks, said he never had been treated in such a manner.
“But to be hit with it head-on, it was a tough situation,” he said. “A surreal moment. It’s one of those things that happened and I felt that I needed to speak on it. I never want anybody else to go through that. It’s not a good feeling.
“The post brought awareness to the situation, which is what I was trying to do. If it stops one person from going through what I did and having to feel like that, that’s why I did it. I’m happy it can kind of be resolved.”
Whitefish Bay police were watching the store because of suspicious phone calls Friday and past robberies. Store employees eventually let Henson in the store but asked police officers to stay, but the officers refused and left the area, according to the police report.
“It’s unfortunate that I came at a time things were happening to the store, but I think steps could have been taken to prevent what happened,” Henson said. “Somebody could have come to the door and said, ‘Can I help you?’
“I might have a watch and we might not be talking about this. It’s one of those things that could have been prevented. The owner took ownership of what he needed to do to fix his polices, and I’m happy to hear that.”
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said he was proud of Henson for the way he handled the situation.
“It’s a great life lesson for everyone,” Kidd said. “For our young team, for our city, for our state; it’s something for us to learn from. Everybody makes mistakes; nobody is perfect. For the owner to come and apologize to John, personally, was a step in the right direction. It’s an issue worldwide, not just here in Milwaukee. We have to do a better of job of addressing it and also learning from it. Our guys here have learned a life lesson at a very young age.
“We see it on TV every day. Then, when it hits home to one of our family members, it becomes real. It’s nothing new; it just happened to a member of our family. It’s a lesson learned for everybody. How do you digest it and how do you learn from it? I thought John did a great job this morning in the meeting.”
Dixon released a statement after meeting with Henson.
“I appreciated the opportunity to personally meet with John Henson this morning to look him in the eye, shake hands, and apologize,” Dixon said. “No one should ever have to experience what he experienced….
“We believe that everyone — professional athlete or not — deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel
Image John Henson Instagram
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