Brazilian civil police on Wednesday accused a Portuguese citizen, a manager of a Zara brand store in a mall in Fortaleza, of committing a racist crime against a black shopper, police sources told Luce.
According to the civil police in the Brazilian state of Ceara, 32-year-old Portuguese Bruno Filipe Simões António was charged under article 5 of the Racial Crimes Act for refusing, preventing access to businesses, refusing to serve, meet or get a client or buyer.
The case dates back to September 14, when a black police chief was stopped while trying to break into Zara’s store.
Delegate Ana Paula Barroso, deputy director of the Department for the Protection of Vulnerable Groups, was eating ice cream when she was not allowed to enter the store.
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According to the establishment, it is for this reason that the woman was banned from visiting to enter the block because of the security protocols against Covid-19.
However, a few minutes before that, another person entered the same store without the correct use of a Covid-19 protective mask, who was allowed to enter the store, and was even helped by the same employee who did not ask him to use protective gear correctly. …
The images analyzed by the Ceará State Forensic Science Department and the Police Intelligence Department show the suspect’s discriminatory attitude, ”the civilian police said.
“The visuals captured through the store’s internal network show differentiated treatment from the store employee towards the victim. The images show when the victim was kicked out, when a few minutes before that the same employee visited the client, who, without even taking food, used the mask incorrectly, ”the corporation said in a statement. …
The scene was observed in other situations, when other customers were not taken out of the store or approached to properly wear a mask.
In addition to the alleged criminal behavior practiced by the Portuguese, the civilian police also discovered that the aforementioned Zara store used a sound system to warn of the presence of blacks or “poorly dressed” citizens on your device.
“They used the code to alert other officers of the presence of ‘suspects’ who were black or ‘poorly dressed’ people,” a source from the Civil Police told Luce.
Zara used the “Zara zerou” beep code on its internal speakers to indicate to employees which customers should be considered “potential suspects.”
In the course of the investigation, in addition to the photographs taken, the Civil Police collected testimonies from eight witnesses, as well as from the victim and the suspect.
Among those interviewed was a 27-year-old black woman who reported on social networks about a similar situation, at the end of June this year in the same store.
Two former employees of the establishment were also heard, who reported cases of moral harassment and discriminatory procedures in the form of serving potential clients. Three security guards from the shopping center where the store operates and the head of security at the facility were also heard.
Portuguese citizens can be sentenced to prison terms of one to three years.
The store can be held liable for non-pecuniary damage under the Brazilian Civil Code.