Williamsburg vintage boutique becomes battleground over racial profiling
Bedford Avenue’s Amarcord draws pickets and likely boycott after employees accuse mother, daughter of theft
More than 50 people protested in front of a vintage boutique shop in Williamsburg on Friday night, one week after a black customer and her daughter were allegedly racially profiled, wrongly accused of shoplifting, chased down the street and handcuffed before police realized they were guilty of no crime.
Chanting “Racial profiling has got to go!” and “White lies cost Black lives!” in front of Amarcord on Bedford Avenue, protesters promised a boycott of the shop, which closed in anticipation of the protest by supporters of Nancy Bedard and her daughter, Isabelle.
One week earlier, Bedard and her daughter had been shopping when one of the store employees accused them of shoplifting.