Update:
The Missouri Applebee's that was accused of racial profiling will be reportedly closing down. It is unclear if the restaurant closing is related to the recent incident.
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Applebee's has temporarily shut down one of it's Missouri franchises and fired three employees who worked at the establishment, after a video that was shot by one of two African-American customers who say that they were racially profiled, made national headlines earlier this week.
A recording of the incident that was uploaded to Facebook on Saturday, February 10, has been viewed three million times. The woman behind the footage is Alexis Brison, of St. Louis --who was in the company of pal Asia Hardy when they stopped in to eat at the restaurant chain after an afternoon of shopping at Independence Center. As Brison tells it in the post's caption, she decided to start filming after she and Hardy were suddenly approached by an officer, a mall cop, and the manager about an hour into their meal.
According to Brison, one of the waitresses had alerted her superior that she and Hardy dipped on the check after dinning in the joint the evening prior. She pointed out how she learned that the employee claimed to recognize them because one was "skinny" and the other "wore more makeup." Brison was critical of the authorities for following through with the investigation despite the absence of a substantial description of them as suspects.
"This is a clear example of RACIAL PROFILING that should not be stood for. Just because we are black does not mean we are all criminals and I will not be treated as such," Brison wrote. Brison and Hardy were commanded to pay their tab and warned against ever returning despite their insistence that they could provide irrefutable evidence of their whereabouts 24-hours earlier.
Applebee's has informed the media that they wish to communicate directly with the ladies to express their regret over the incident. In the meantime, they have issued an apology via a company spokesperson.
