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MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - A Minneapolis bar is under fire after denying entry to a black man over weekend as a bouncer claimed his clothing was too baggy. This happened after they let in his friends, who were white and all wearing similar outfits.
Matt Briggs showed Fox 9 photos of what he and his brother-in-law, Mohamed “Mo” Osman, were wearing Saturday night. They each had on a Minnesota Twins jersey and denim jeans.
“I was wearing this—my brother-in-law was wearing this—I got let in—he did not get let in—that’s a story,” said Briggs.
Briggs is still fired up about what happened at the bar. He says they were out celebrating his younger brother's bachelor party. The group of family and friends decided to continue the celebration after the Minnesota Twins game and headed to Last Call, a bar down the street from Target Field. Every single man in the group was let into the bar, except Briggs’ brother-in-law Mohamed.
“Felt disrespected, felt not good enough, I shouldn’t feel that way—my money is just as good as anybody else’s money,” said Osman
Apparently Osman’s jeans were too baggy and violated the bar's dress code.
"My brother, who’s white, came out and said, ‘He’s with us’ - apparently the jeans weren’t baggy anymore, so they let him into the bar,” said Briggs. “Well at that point they had already showed their cards the second they denied him and said, ‘You’re not good enough to be here.’”
The owner of Last Call, Mike Whitelaw, is out of town. Whitelaw refused multiple opportunities to do a phone interview, but stands by his bouncer's decision. Osman told Fox 9 he understands why bars and nightclubs have dress codes, but wishes they were consistent.
“The damage was done at that point,” said Osman. “I felt degraded—I felt humiliated—I felt embarrassed—I’m the oldest in the group—only African-American in the group—they don’t allow me in until someone vouches for me—it’s just—I just felt humiliated.”
The owner did allow Fox 9 inside the bar to view the surveillance video of what happened, but he is not releasing a copy. The video shows Osman as the last person in his group. He is stopped and asked to step aside. The video shows Osman was let in a few minutes later, but Osman says at that point the group did not want to be there anymore because they all felt uncomfortable.