“In Oakland less than four hours and I just saw a young man violently assaulted by an armed security guard at Whole Foods – slammed repeatedly against concrete pillars, put in a chokehold, restrained, and suffocated until he was thrown face down on the pavement unconscious”, Marks wrote in her post, published yesterday morning.
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An eye witness to the attack, Zoe Marks, on visit from Edinburgh, Scotland where she lectures at the University of Edinburgh, gave an eyewitness account of the assault on her Facebook, posting graphic images of the victim. Witness Zoe Marks said the confrontation between the male customer and the security guard began after the customer got into a verbal argument with a cashier.
Marks posted pictures of an unidentified man lying near the store’s entrance, bleeding profusely and being treated by paramedics who reportedly transported him to a local hospital.
Oakland police told Inside Bay Area that firefighters had reported the victim as unconscious when they arrived on the scene, but that he was later reported to be in stable condition.
Police didn’t release the names of those involved.
Security at the store had called the fire department, Watson said. “We’re actively investigating the details with our security firm”. “Whole Foods needs to be held accountable – security is NOT selective, it is collective”, she added. By Friday night time, amid growing protests over the shop’s use of armed guards, Entire Meals tweeted the safety guard had been dismissed.
She claims the man was trying to buy groceries with an electronic benefit transfer card, which provides people with food stamp benefits. But several social media commenters prompted a response from company officials on the Whole Foods Facebook page on Friday. “The new firm is A.G.S. Private Security, owned and operated by Ms. Gloria Lawrence of Concord”. “While we move swiftly to gather the facts, we want to make it clear that Whole Foods Market takes a zero tolerance approach to violence”, Krauss wrote.
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The guard, who has not been named, was initially suspended but on Friday afternoon Krauss said the guard’s suspension would be permanent.
