A black family say they were asked to leave a movie theater and the manager called cops when they complained about a beeping noise during a showing of the new Jurassic World movie.
Ismael and Ashley Jimenez took their four kids and two of their children’s friends to see the movie Friday night at a Cinemark in Philadelphia.
Throughout the film, the couple said that there was a loud and consistent beeping sound that was a distraction.
Video has emerged showing a black family being kicked out of a Philadelphia movie theater for complaining about a beeping noise that was going off during the movie. The above grabs show Ismael Jimenez (right) and one of the cops that were called to the scene (left)
Ismael and his wife Ashley brought their four kids and two of their children’s friends to see a showing of Jurassic World Friday night. The manager (pictured in black) eventually asked them to leave
The kids and their friends are seen in the above grabs. Ismael said his 11-year-old son threw up after the incident because he was afraid of what might happen in the confrontation
About 20 minutes into the film, Ismael went outside and alerted a staff member, who said that they would get the manager to look into the issue, according to the Philly Voice.
When the manager failed to materialize after Ismael waited 15 minutes, he went and found the man himself.
The manager allegedly told Ismael that he would handle the situation, but after another 20 minutes, the beeping sound still hadn’t been stopped.
That’s when Ismael and his wife left the theater with their three-year-old child and demanded a refund on their tickets.
The Jimenez family asked for a refund when management refused to sort out the beeping noise. The manager pictured in black above
Some six cops were called to the scene when the family refused to leave until their concessions were refunded
The situation came to an end when a black officer (far right) arrived at the scene and helped the family get their full refund
The manager gave them their money back, but when they tried to go back into the theater to get the rest of the kids, the manager told them they weren’t allowed.
The couple say they continued to argue with the manager for several minutes without getting anywhere. Eventually, Ashley ignored the manager’s commands and went back into the theater to fetch the rest of the kids.
It was around this time that the manager called police, and officers started to show up in a steady stream.
The couple say the first officer they spoke to, who was on the scene before the argument broke out, treated them ‘like a threat right from the jump’.
That’s when Ashley started recording video of their confrontation with the officer.
‘We’re being hauled out of the movie theater right now because we asked for a refund regarding a situation where we could not hear the movie,’ Ashley says in the video, as her husband continues to speak with the officer.
Ashley and Ismael Jimenez are pictured above. Ismael is a high school teacher and a member of Black Lives Matter Philly
Ashley posted video of the confrontation online that has been viewed more than 50,000 times
‘Right now we have seven kids with us. We were trying to watch Jurassic World. We were asked to leave simply because we asked them 45 minutes ago to stop the beeping,’ she continues.
The officer speaking to Ismael can be heard explaining that they need to leave because ‘this is a private establishment’.
More cops are seen arriving at the scene, and start to surround Ismael.
At one point, another man yells out ‘Does this really call for more than six f****** officers right now?’
One of the children is heard in the background repeating ‘racist’ over and over again.
‘Pay attention to the babies – it’s racist,’ Ashley is heard saying.
The video ends with Ismael talking to a new officer, who is black, who helps the family get their money back for their concessions.
‘I appreciate it, I do. I really appreciate it,’ Ismael says to the officer.
‘Only because it’s bed time will we leave now,’ Ashley says as the video ends.
Ashley posted the video to Facebook on Saturday and it’s been viewed more than 50,000 times since.
Many of the hundreds of commenters on the video have called the incident an example of racism.
Ismael, a teacher at a local performing arts high school and a member of Black Lives Matter Philly, wouldn’t use the word but pointed to several similar incidents involving black people.
‘This is starting to become an ongoing theme where the police are used as the default position when trying to handle a situation,’ he said. ‘We don’t have to deal with you, we’re going to call the cops on you. It’s starting to happening a lot, or being recorded a lot.’