The White owner of The Detroit Mercantile Co. was charged with assault and arrested after spitting in the face of a Black man who was managing parking at a nearby event Tuesday, according to Metro Times.
Owner Robert Stanzler is seen on a video posted on social media by Ibrahim Muhammad, who also worked security for the event, flipping off Muhammad before spitting on him.
People who witnessed Stanzler’s actions called him “vile” and said they would boycott his store, which sells clothes and home goods.
The event was hosted by The Eastern, a venue that shares the building with Detroit Mercantile. Witnesses told Metro Times that Stanzler was angry that people attending the event were taking up space in his section of the parking lot. Stanzler reportedly yelled at attendees, including Muhammad.
After he was spat on, Muhammad called the police, at which time Stanzler began “aggressively apologizing,” according to the report.
“I think that a boycott is a necessity; Ibrahim and I talked about it,” ill Weaver (who spells her first name with a lower case “i”) told Metro Times.
“It doesn’t make sense that this business should be successful if this is how [Stanzler] behaves. I think he owes Ibrahim an apology, I think he owes our community an apology . . . but apologies are just apologies,” Weaver said. “He needs to really commit to a much longer process for how he and his business are going to undo his racist actions, which are violent, disrespectful actions . . . and he is white, toxic masculinity embodied.”
