Colts linebacker Darius Leonard claims he was racially profiled at Chipotle and ‘asked to leave after a white customer complained that he was discussing Black Lives Matter with his family’
- Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard is claiming that he was racially profiled at a Florence, South Carolina Chipotle and was ultimately asked to leave
- The manager has been suspended by Chipotle, which is investigating the matter
- Leonard, 24, posted a video of himself on Instagram explaining that the manager kicked him out based exclusively on the complaint of one white customer
- As Leonard explained, ‘they said they were going to call the police’
- It’s not clear if the ‘family’ Leonard was referring to included his siblings, wife, or daughter, but he did say he was with three other black men and a mixed woman
- On Instagram, Leonard said he wants ‘non-blacks to take a step in our shoes and realize the s*** that we go through and why we feel the way we [feel]’
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard claims that he was racially profiled at a Florence, South Carolina Chipotle and was ultimately asked to leave by a manager after having a discussion about Black Lives Matter with his family.
The manager has since been suspended by Chipotle, which is investigating the matter.
Leonard, 24, posted a video of himself on Instagram in which he explained that the manager kicked him out of the restaurant based exclusively on the complaint of one white customer, who said they were being verbally abusive.
Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard is claiming that he was racially profiled at a Florence, South Carolina Chipotle and was ultimately asked to leave by a manager for having a discussion about Black Lives Matter with his family
‘It was basically a lie,’ Leonard said. ‘We basically got kicked out of Chipotle because of that. And they said they were going to call the police, or they wanted to call the police on us.
‘We’re talking about Black Lives Matter, and for the guy to look at us and lie and laugh in our face as we walk out, and the manger … come up here and just basically kick us out of Chipotle.
‘That’s the White privilege that we are talking about,’ he continued. ‘There’s no black guy that can sit there and eat peacefully without being racially profiled. We know that if that manager would have called the cops right then and there, we know what would have went down.’
‘It’s wrong in America. Y’all wonder why all the protests and all that stuff is going on right now. We are tired of this. Y’all White people don’t understand what we go through.’
Leonard claims he was eating at this Chipotle in Florence, South Carolina when he was profiled
It’s not clear if the ‘family’ Leonard was referring to included his siblings, his wife Kayla, or their daughter Mia, but he did say he was sitting with three other black men and a woman he described as ‘mixed.’
Chipotle CEO Brian Nicco has since released a statement.
‘We are currently investigating the incident involving Darius Leonard in Florence, South Carolina,’ Niccol said. ‘We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we have suspended our manager while we conduct a thorough investigation. I’ve personally reached out to Darius and I’m committed to ensuring the appropriate action is taken once the investigation concludes.’
On Instagram, Leonard went on to say that he wants ‘non-blacks to take a step in our shoes and realize the s*** that we go through and why we feel the way we [feel].’
The South Carolina native went on to say that that he is living ‘the injustices that we go through… day in and day out.’
A second-round pick out of South Carolina State in 2018, Leonard led the NFL in tackles in his first season while earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, and has twice been named to the All-Pro team.
He’s entering the third season of a four-year, $7.2 million deal.
A second-round pick out of South Carolina State in 2018, Leonard led the NFL in tackles in his first season while earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, and has twice been named to the All-Pro team