Profiled in La Mesa Walmart

A peace officer claims he was profiled by Walmart employees Wednesday.

Johnny Aguirre says he and his wife went to the Walmart in La Mesa and he was carrying a backpack that he usually carries with him. There are items he carries in his backpack that are related to his job as a peace officer.

“We walked in, and I got stopped by two greeters, they told me to put the backpack away int he lockers,” he said.

Aguirre says the lockers were empty, so it was standard for all customers. He also says he noticed other people were walking around the store with backpacks.
He believes employees singled him out because of the way he looked.

“I got that feeling that I was profiled and racially discriminated because of the way I was dressed maybe,” he said. He says he was working all day and he was a little dirty.

Walmart sent the following statement to 10News: “We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. As a company, we’ve taken several steps to help mitigate the issue of crime and the locker system implemented in our Las Mesa store is just one example of our proactive approach. We take our customer’s claim seriously and will continue to look into this. ”

“I got the feeling I was selected, I was profiled, so if this a new policy, they need to train their people better,” Aguirre said.