I like to carry cash. I usually have around $100-150 in cash in my wallet at any given time. It’s probably a generational thing – I’m old enough to remember a time when most people carried cash and paid for meals, gas and maybe even groceries in cash. I probably shouldn’t admit that I carry cash, but I don’t live in an area where I feel like I’m in any danger of being held up or robbed. That being said, I would be nervous as hell to carry cash in excess of a few hundred dollars. I would look and act squirrelly if I had thousands in my purse. Which is why director Ryan Coogler asked for some discretion when he went to Bank of America to withdraw $12K from his bank account. He passed a note to the teller asking for just that, discretion. Instead, the teller called the cops on him and he was handcuffed and detained… for trying to withdraw money from his own account.
Bank staffers mistakenly thought Ryan Coogler was staging a robbery — so they called cops, and the famed director actually ended up in handcuffs … briefly. According to an Atlanta PD report, obtained by TMZ, Coogler was detained after stopping in a Bank of America to make a transaction back in January — a completely legal transaction, mind you, but that’s not how one teller took it.
Coogler walked in rocking shades and a COVID face mask — not uncommon, of course — but he handed the teller a withdrawal slip that had a note written on the back. We’re told his message read, “I would like to withdraw $12,000 cash from my checking account. Please do the money count somewhere else. I’d like to be discreet.” Understandable, considering the amount of money he was getting … but this led to the teller thinking something suspicious was going down, and cops were called for an attempted robbery.
When officers arrived, they detained 2 people waiting outside for Ryan in an SUV — and then went in and brought RC himself out in handcuffs.After an investigation, the police say this was all just a huge mistake … and the fault lies with the BoA employee, who’s described in the report as a pregnant Black woman.
According to the report, when the teller went to make the transaction on her computer, it triggered some sort of an alert. So, she told her boss Coogler was attempting to rob the bank, and they called 911. In the end, cops realized this was a screw up, and Ryan had actually done nothing wrong. Sounds like Ryan wasn’t too pleased … the report notes he asked for badge numbers of all the responding officers once everyone was released.
He’s been in GA a lot over the past year, filming the sequel to “Black Panther,” which itself has been a drama-filled process with cast injuries and alleged COVID conspiracy talk.
Ryan Coogler tells TMZ … “This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”
The bank and the bank teller are all fudging the whole “triggered alert” thing. American banks will get an alert if someone is trying to withdraw or move money over $9K or $10K. But that’s all it is, an alert on their computer, and it’s about counterterrorism, not bank robberies. It doesn’t follow that the cops are called every time someone’s bank transaction exceeds $9K. This situation with Ryan Coogler is utter bullsh-t and racism. I feel sorry for Coogler, but it sounds like he’s already dealing with it. I hope he changes banks too, why should Bank of America keep his money.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- SAN FRANCISCO, CA – November 15 – Ryan Coogler attends Common Sense Awards 2018 on November 15th 2018 at San Francisco City Hall in SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Photo – Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)Photograph: © Drew Altizer/PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com,Image: 534635313, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com, Model Release: no, Credit line: Drew Altizer/PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- PALM SPRINGS, CA, USA – JANUARY 04: Director Ryan Coogler arrives at Variety’s Creative Impact Awards and 10 Directors to Watch Brunch Red Carpet 2019 at the 30th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala held at the Parker Palm Springs on January 4, 2019 in Palm Springs, California, United States. (Photo by Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency),Image: 535004525, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- PALM SPRINGS, CA, USA – JANUARY 04: Director Ryan Coogler arrives at Variety’s Creative Impact Awards and 10 Directors to Watch Brunch Red Carpet 2019 at the 30th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala held at the Parker Palm Springs on January 4, 2019 in Palm Springs, California, United States. (Photo by Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency),Image: 535004566, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / Image Press Agency / Avalon
Of course this would happen to a successful black man. All we as black people ever deal with is
White supremacy, white oppression, white hatred and they won’t ever stop.
I strongly believe that systematic racism is MUCH more ingrained in our society than people like to admit (and have no interest in any kind of debate regarding that especially on a gossip site) but I believe that the fact the teller is a black woman is important in this situation.
Not because it makes the situation ok, this absolutely happened just because it was a black man who dared to have money, but it also sounds like a training issue. Whatever it was he seems to not want to draw any additional attention to it.
A teller is the lower level position at any bank/credit union etc. That the teller is black is meaningless as she is not the one who has instituted the rules that the higher ups have set in place to deal with “this type of client.” Periodt.
Yes, @Jamie and @girl_ninja training, it dictates the lens you have to look through to keep your job. It’s like TSA hiring many people of color. Who they want to target are still targeted via the training given.
Completely agree. We all need to be honest with ourselves about this. The deck is stacked against POC from the beginning and it won’t stop until we rewrite these trainings and practices and learn how to identify our own biases.
Yeah so tired of all of it and all the micro aggression business. I’m weary. But we carry on. Ughhhhh
So, no Black people are allowed to have money is what the teller thought.
That training has to come from somewhere or Bank of America are okay with their hiring practices of making sure tellers are comfortable calling the police on people whose only crime is banking while Black.
For an amount that large the teller would need approval from a supervisor. It would not be the teller’s decision to call the police. There is no description of the supervisor who called the police.
I said what I said.
Eh, everybody on twitter is pointing out that the teller who called on him is a black woman. So maybe this isn’t as you assumed? He walked into a bank with his full face obscured and handed the teller a note. That’s how 90% of bank robberies start. The whole thing is…weird. Why does he need to “discreetly” withdraw his own money? Like, it’s his money. You can walk in and take whatever you want.
He wanted discretion so he didn’t get mugged leaving the bank with $12,000 in cash. The words “my checking account” should have been a dead give away he wasn’t a bank robber.
I’m confused by the statement that he “passed a note” asking to withdraw 12K. Didn’t he complete a withdrawal form to give to the teller to request the funds or are they saying passed a note instead of gave her the withdrawal form to make it look like he did it in a shady way?
Exactly, Megan.
Thank you Megan!
Yep, you nailed it, Megan.
@pottymouth,
the text quotes in the article indicate that he hand wrote the note on his *withdrawal slip.* There should have been no confusion to whose account it was.
This is institutional racism *and* poor training.
I guess he was worried someone in the line at the bank would overhear the amount and follow him from the bank and rob him? But I don’t think they actually say the amount out loud when you’re withdrawing. They just hand you a slip with the amount on it for that very reason.
No, I remember back when I used to withdraw cash in person, they actually count it out right there in front of you. I’m with him, I wouldn’t have wanted $12k counted out in front of everybody.
@BeanieBean, yes. And my experience is that they do actually verbally count it out in front of you so that you can see it is correct.
The victim isn’t at fault here.
Asking the teller to be discreet was about not wanting every Tom, Dick, and Harry standing around to know he was walking around with a ton of cash. He asked her to do so in a note because he was being discreet. I can see where getting a note in a bank might be alarming, but as soon as the teller saw he wrote down information about HIS OWN account, that alarm should have gone away. His note doesn’t seem to have been read.
The race of the teller is irrelevant. What he was wearing is irrelevant, because if his note had been read, the teller could have asked for him to take off his sunglasses and briefly lower his mask to check against his ID.
You don’t flip a robbers note over to see if they provided their account details on the note. That’s how you get shot.
fluffy: it wasn’t a robber’s note, it was a withdrawal slip, with all the pertinent information on it, the note was on the flip side of that.
Which side did he present to the teller? The standard withdraw form or the hand written note. If he presented the hand written part to the teller it comes across as a robber’s note not a withdraw slip. Did he say I’d like to make a withdraw or did he just slide the slip to her? I always tell them I want to make a withdraw and then swipe my debit card because I don’t know my account number because they’re long as fuck and not printed on anything they provide to me. I also have a ton of accounts so we have to play 20 questions to figure out which account is the right account.
@ fluffy, the hand written note was **on the withdrawal slip.** If it were on the back, a rational person would flip it to the front to see the account number on it. And none of it requires police intervention.
Clearly he can’t just withdraw his own money, that’s the whole point/outrage of the story.
There’s a story down thread by a woman who had something similar happen when she tried withdrawing a similar amount, without the note that you think caused all the trouble. The same result from someone who did it “the right way,” sounds like it’s more a systemic issue, which was the point of the reporting.
But that’s like saying black and brown cops don’t exhibit brutality against people who look like them. That’s a known fallacy.
This is an internalized racism problem and a teller training (systemic racism) problem that Americans want to hand wave.
If she believed he could have had that money she would have taken his id, checked his account, and handed him his money. But that she didn’t think he could… nope. End of.
All excellent points!
Yes, ma’am, or sir. Or they! 😀
Black people can participate in anti-blackness, white supremacy, and racial bias sometimes willingly via Candance Owens, or subconsciously like this young lady.
Omg, and crazy David Clarke, the cowboy hat wearin’, gun-totin’, hatred-spewing RWNJ, Ex- WI sheriff.
He handed the teller a withdrawal slip, which will have his account number. The note was written on the back. She did a dumb thing, based on racial profiling, & the cops followed through. The whole thing was wrong, start to finish. And you can bet, if I were him, I’d switch banks pronto.
Question. Were the cops called as in a telephone. Or did she push the little button that’ supposed to be under the counter? If is was the button I can possibly see the woman just reading the first of the note. And getting scared and pushing the button. If it was on the phone then that would have taken more time and she should have read the rest of the note. Plus having to get someone else’s attention for them to call. Plus why was he taken outside in handcuffs? That doesn’t make sense.
I would switch too – what bank still has withdrawal slips?? What is this, 1982?! I worked at a bank like, 20 years ago and we were getting rid of them then!!
Amanda, my bank still has them. They come in handy when you need an amount the ATM can’t do. 😉
He didn’t hand her a “note”, it was a withdraw slip. If the bank account number on the withdraw slip had his correct account on it, she could have asked for ID if she had concerns.
What is going on that a Black man can’t withdraw his own money now? Seriously.
I would absolutely change banks if I were him but not sure what better options are out there unfortunately. You’d think the bank would want to keep a wealthy client happy at least. What is he supposed to do, call ahead for permission? Bring a notarized document? Geez.
The article says the teller is Black, so I don’t think it was racism. I think she didn’t read the note very well or misunderstood it and just panicked.
And just why did she “panic”? Because it was a big black man. Racism pure and simple.
I think its equally possible that it was instead/also because he handed a teller a note with sunglasses and a face covering. If there was something strange going on do you think a pregnant woman would want to risk losing her job?
And the teller would never count out 12k in cash on the counter to alert everyone to it. They use a machine to do the counting. They’ve done that when I’ve withdrawn far less than 12k. He went about it the wrong way.
I disagree. I’ve withdrawn a large sum (a lot less than 12k) and even with the machine, it was obvious I was withdrawing a large sum to anyone standing nearby, as in, at the next teller’s window.
You obviously don’t bank with Bank of America because there’s only ever one teller working the lobby. They try and make the experience as painful as possible to avoid people coming into the branch to do banking functions. They try and drive everyone to do online banking by having the experience be as miserable as possible. It’s their business model.
@fluffybunny, I’ve been with BoA for well over 20 years. There are always two tellers at the branch near my house, and someone at a desk just outside who jumps in to help when a line forms. It’s near a wealthier neighborhood, so maybe they’re meeting expectations of their clientele. But I also have used branches closer to my workplace(s), where there have been two or more tellers working during morning, lunch, and late afternoon hours. I remember very well because the last time I withdrew over 1k (to pay a house sitter before we went on vacation), I was very well aware of other people doing banking on either side of me.
I also have to swipe my BoA card when I do anything there, and for some transactions have been asked for photo ID (once they began issuing me cards without my picture on them). So I’m wondering if Coogler was also asked to swipe his card, and if not, why…and if he did, why the overreaction?
@Tiger. Your experience is because you live in a wealthy area. It is not the standard Bank of America operating procedure to have 2 tellers and someone available in the lobby to handle issues. I have insider knowledge that their standard procedure is to make the banking center experience miserable to drive you to do mobile banking. The banking center near my house has 1 teller and you need an appointment to do any other kinds of transactions or handle anything a teller can’t do. I make my husband do any of our transactions at the banking center near his office because it is staffed better. I’m even a preferred customer and don’t get good service. The only time I do any banking is if it can be done through the atm.
@Fluffybunny your experience is not everyone’s experience. There are multiple tellers at the BOA where I live (just a typical suburban area, not “wealthy.”) Maybe not at 9 am on a Wednesday morning, but on Thursdays and Fridays – yes. (I dont know what time he went but I’m just saying.) you even say that your husband does your banking because the location near his office is staffed better.
Your insistence that your experience and knowledge of BOA and therefore you k now that Coogler was in the wrong and deserved to be arrested is kind of bizarre at this point.
Unfortunately there is anti blackness in the black community (black woman here). There are some black people that have those stereotypical ideas about other black people. Them trying to make it a “well it was a black woman who called 911” is just ridiculous.
I remember a black nurse was asking me what medications I was taking. At the time my father had died suddenly and I was struggling. I told her I was on an antidepressant and she made such a disrespectful comment to me which pushed the stigma about mental health in the black community. I know she would not have said this to a white woman.
I guess it was my knee-jerk reaction to think it couldn’t be racism because the teller is Black, but the comments here made me realize that racism can be internalized like misogyny.
So *F up but that’s sadly the way we black people get treated. I bet you $100 that if it was a white person that would not have happen. She ( teller) would just think exactly what he is asking for… discretion not a goddamn robbery.
I don’t even have his money and the cops were called because I wanted to take out $10,000 of MY own money ( I filled the slip and just pass it down with my ID as is required). I changed banks and they still gave me grief when I took out all my money. I’m starting to save money and put it in my security/ safe box at home.
I dunno where you are based but in the UK, the only reason police would be called for a large withdrawal would be if the person refused to answer questions about what it was for, or seemed extremely nervous and something didn’t seem right. The concern would be they were a victim of a scam or social engineering. For this there is an arm of the police called banking protocol specifically to deal with this. I have called them twice – once because a young girl came in with an older man who was watching her but not interacting with her, and she was mouthing things at us through the glass and it became clear he was threatening her to withdraw the money. I woukd be interested to know what reasonthe bank gave you for calling the police for you withdrawal?
If it is over $10000 it will always trigger a form filled out for the IRS. My friend for business would always just take under $10000 so as not to fill out the form. Taking over $10000 is problematic but not arresting someone problematic.
Sorry that happened to you, CEL. I completely believe it. Tellers make the least amount of money, have the highest risk from dealing with customers, and have a very low tolerance from bosses about mistakes.
A friend’s sister was one, she was let go after 8 years at the same bank because her till was off less than $10 for the third time. They had a ten year, 3 strike rule.
The system is designed to make tellers the bad guy and to catch flack for anything that goes wrong, which I can see causing garbage fire incidents.
I remember working at a bank branch where management raked a teller over the coals when her till at the drive in was off $2000. They spent hours going over it and wrote it up: this was an employee who had worked there for years with no issues and they were awful to her.
A while later they were renovating the branch and took out the counter at the drive through window … and there was a check for $2000 from that day! It wasn’t the teller’s fault the built-in counter was poorly designed with a gap checks and cash etc could slip through.
What does this have to do with a person withdrawing money from his own account?
I bank at Bank of America. You don’t slip them a note requesting to withdraw money. You have to fill out a withdraw slip. That’s how you rob a bank is by slipping a note to a teller. They aren’t paid enough for people to be slipping notes to them about withdrawing large sums of money. A teller is the lowest ranking and paid employee in the entire branch.
It says he filled out the withdrawal slip and wrote the note on the back. Perhaps if he had just asked her verbally to count it elsewhere and be discreet that might have been better?
They don’t count by hand. They use a machine to count withdraws. He’s obviously never withdrawn a large amount of cash because he went about it entirely wrong. They never announce how much they are handing you. All of the transaction information is printed on the withdraw slip.
He did NOT deserve to be handcuffed for this. Stop making excuses just because you bank at BOA. It is completely inexcusable what they did. He didn’t hand them a “note”, it was A WITHDRAW SLIP!
Also it’s scary as hell for the teller when that happens, you dont know if the person passing you the note has a gun or not.
Read the article. He gave her a withdrawal slip. The note was on the back. It was not even a separate note. So no, this was not at all like a robbery.
He went about it the wrong way because a teller doesn’t hand count a withdraw and announce to the entire branch how much you are withdrawing. What he did was slip an upside down withdraw slip to a teller and she thought she was being robbed by a guy in a mask and sunglasses. He’s never withdrawn a significant amount of cash before if he thinks this is how it goes down.
Thank you. There always excuse makers for white supremacy .
“He went about it the wrong way”
Do you even hear yourself?
That’s the equivalent of “well she wouldn’t have gotten raped if she’d just worn something more appropriate.
Stop bending yourself into a pretzel to blame this on Coogler.
Um, if the “real problem” was that they don’t hand count the money in front of you like you keep trying to claim, then why couldn’t they just tell him that? Why did it necessitate having him cuffed?
Um, fluffybunny, you might want to stop digging that hole. A quick empathy lesson: would _you_ like to be treated this way? Well, then….
Yes, or for large sums you can just call ahead and order it; it will be dual counted under supervision then sealed and dual signed over the seal, so that it doesn’t have to be counted in front of other customers. This teller entirely overreacted to a ridiculous degree, but he couldve donethis any number of different ways. Verbally asking if there is somehwere more private to complete the transaction would have sufficed.
In the UK messages do flash up for large transactions, but these are solely around protecting the customer and ensuring they are not being scammed, so not sure what kind of message they reckon came up that was so alarming they called the police?
I have had people come up to the counter and pass a note, and of course there is a brief second of panic that you are about to be robbed. But then you just.. read the note? What a strange story.
Agree with above posters that it seems unlikely to be racism is the teller was also black, but happy to be corrected on that.
Sorry, I’m LOLing at “I bank at Bank of America.” So do probably half the people on this post? I’ve been using them for over 20 years. I’m still not sure what he did that was wrong that prompted him to get put in handcuffs.
Even the story FROM BOA itself is that something was “triggered” when the teller tried to withdraw that cash from his account – so she obviously went a step beyond just seeing the note and thinking “robbery.” She tried to make the withdrawal and then there was this “trigger” that resulted in the police being called.* She didn’t make the call because of the note.
*I am side-eyeing that trigger, it was probably just a warning or notice or something, but just going by what BOA is saying.
A silent alarm would trigger the response seen. I’ve triggered a silent alarm by accident at not a bank and multiple police cars responded with guns drawn. I was at a new store and mistook the silent alarm button for the button that alerts the back that I need more help. They weren’t ideally placed properly. Having triggered a silent alarm I’m not shocked by the response.
I agree with your comment below Becks1 – sounds like fluffybunny was the manager who called the cops or someone who did something similar.
This type of no holds bar and changing of goal post defending – (e.g. when another BOA customer on the comment board says they’ve banked with BOA for a similar time, in a similar neighborhood with a similar amount as both Ryan or as fluffybunny, then fluffybunny or other similar commenters have to say “no, no, no you see when I and Ryan banked, the teller was wearing fushia but when you banked the teller was wearing sky blue – totally different circumstances – anyways Ryan deserved to be arrested.) is usually the type of racism don’t exist comments I’d see on the Root or Kotaku. Wild
From the article:
***” he handed the teller a withdrawal slip…”***
I an reading that the bank teller was a black woman who was pregnant. So maybe it was just being stupid in general as opposed to racism. The police response was probably over the top because of racism though.
Hmm, since it was Atlanta I assumed there was a good chance the teller was also Black and didn’t want to jump in saying it was all racism. Also Atlanta has lots of successful Black citizens who have money so Would be surprised if she thought he didn’t have the funds. Maybe she just misunderstood the note and was having a bad day? Hopefully he puts his money in a better financial institution after this.
Anytime I hear about bank robberies on the local news it’s always someone handing a note to a teller so idk, I’m not a teller but maybe they were jumpy about it? Definitely a weird situation since I assumed he gave her an account number and was clear in the note. I feel like customer service people are at their wits ends from dealing with people too. Bank of America is an awful institution anyways that treats people like garbage and charges for everything. Hopefully he switches to a credit union or better bank now.
BOA and Wells Fargo are two reasons I bank at a medium-size regional bank. The big banks are notorious for runaway fees and lousy service in multiculti areas.
and Wells Fargo also opened accounts in customer’s names without them knowing and fleeced them. I cannot understand how ANYONE still banks with WF.
I don’t even have a bank account, I use a credit union and have never had a need to use anything else.
Yeah, Wells Fargo seems to spend more time fleecing customers than it does doing honest banking. 🤮 ISTR Chase has pulled some stunts, as well…
Do bank robbers typically present their bank card when they demand money? How else would an alert on the size of the withdrawal be triggered? If she really thought he was robbing the place, wouldn’t she have notified security, not called 911?
If Coogler were a white dude, the teller would have been all “What a smart, successful business man!”. I hope he sues them, or at least demands a public apology.
wow it’s not at all shocking to see the hand waving for the clear racism of Bank of America here. Oh it’s not racism because the teller is black. Oh he looked like a bank robber. Oh he doesn’t know how “people” are supposed to ask for cash. SMH
YUP. Before reading the comments, I was preparing myself for all of the reaching that I was expecting to read to try to rationalize how this wasn’t racist, but it’s still disappointing all the same.
Agreed – it’s not like if Jon Favreau or if Adam Mackay did the exact same thing – they def would have been given the money, no arrests or police terrorism needed
My fave so far us “I bank at BOA which makes me an insider and here’s why Ryan deserved to be handcuffed…”
Racists are full of excuses today.
The more these stories are on this site, the more y’all tell on yourselves.
And it is Black with a capital B.
Yes, definitely, Tiffany. I’m a white woman and even I’m appalled at the “he didn’t go about it the right way” nonsense being spewed here.
He handed her a flipping withdrawal slip with his account number. There was zero reason except race to think he was robbing the place. Cops should never have been involved… and definitely should never have handcuffed him.
If you can’t understand this, you are part of the problem.
Same for me Tiffany and Rapunzel, same. Generally this is a great community but still so many people who feel they have to assert their opinions about race that are just wrong.
I feel a combination of tired and outraged when I read some of the comments on this post and others over the last few months that I know are being made by white women who consider themselves liberal. But I hope there’s some listening and learning happening.
Yep, the old “a black person better be perfect 24-goddamn-seven, else they deserve to get arrested or shot” crap. Like white folks don’t get minor mixups/errors handwaved away all the time…
@TIFFANY, yupper.
@Rapunzel – everything you said.
The comments are so disappointing, and yet, not surprising.
People need to take a good hard look at what they are bending over backwards to excuse.
I normally give multi-billion corporate entities that pay millions of dollars in “diversity training” each year the benefit of the doubt when handcuffing a Black man in their bank.
Y’all might want to turn down the white supremacy settings on your interwebz.
fluffybunny, what are you doing here today? Breathlessly defending BoA for something they clearly f*cked up is a… LOOK.
I’ve banked with them for 27 years and am in the process of obtaining a mortgage from them. I’m well versed in the way they operate. I live in their headquarters. They are very diverse so this isn’t a racism issue. They just pledged a huge amount of money to HBCUs. I also have experience working in banking. A bank doesn’t care what color you are just that you make them money.
And a bank is FDIC insured so they don’t even really care about the money if they get robbed. They care about the safety of their employees and everyone in the banking center.
Well I didn’t know that bank fandom existed but judging by fluffybunny and other similar comments, I guess a lot of ppl will go out of their way to stan their favorite places like it’s a A grade celebrity, regardless of facts, logic or historical data. Wild.
@beff I am dying bc good lord the BOA defense here is hilarious! Well if you’ve banked with them and have gotten a mortgage from them, then what else is there to say!!
Companies can be diverse and STILL have racism issues.
@Tan it is wild!
You missed the comment where I said I have insider knowledge of how Bank of America operates. Draw from that what you’d like. And I always maintain online that people should go hard for their banks just as hard as they do for their fandoms so I’m just practicing what I preach.
to Fluffbunny
Are you talking about the same BoA that admitted to deliberately making Black people pay more in mortgage rates than white people and having to pay out millions of dollars? That wonderful BoA that is so diverse that they for years overcharged Black people? Keep burying your head in the sand.
fluffy, no one cares that you have “insider info” LOL holy shit the narcissism it took to even post those words, child. I am laughing. HARD. You are not proving anything to anyone on this page about BoA , but you are opening our eyes to your own brand of white supremacy. So, just be mindful that the interwebz NEVER FORGETS.
Yes, this!
I’ve never drawn an amount that large and I don’t have a BOA account, but it is within my banking experience to have them count the money out loud. So it makes sense to me that he wouldn’t want them to do that.
For those saying they don’t hand count cash:
A) sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t
B) even if they don’t, the bill counting machine is often right there behind the tellers’ line, so anyone around could still see thousands of dollars being counted
You might like to assume bank employees would be discreet… I tried to be back when I was a teller. But I’ve seen enough times of a teller saying “wow that’s a lot of cash you’re taking out” or “boy aren’t you lucky!” when a big check was being cashed/deposited to know that’s not always the case.
In this situation, not one, but 2 BOA employees overreacted. All either one of them had to do was look at and actually read the withdrawal slip he handed the teller, ask for ID if they had a question whether he was the owner of the account. Both the teller and the supervisor failed to do that. And then the cops failed to properly assess the situation when they arrived on scene.
RC did nothing wrong, but bad procedures and bias caused at least 4 people to treat a bank customer like a criminal.
_Thank_ you. If Coogler hadn’t written the note, certain folks here would be going on about how he messed up there.
Yes to all of this. When I asked for a bank check to be made for a down payment the teller asked if I was buying a house. I am sure it was well intended/just idle chat, but I didn’t want people around me knowing I was getting a large check made out. Even worse if those comments are made when withdrawing cash!
EVERYTHING you said.
I bank with BOA. I’ve been a Platinum Preferred Customer of theirs since they were Fleet Bank. I recently withdrew $10,000 from my account. At the counter with customers behind me, I was asked to fill out a form including what my position and title are at my job and my annual income, which they know because my salary is direct deposited. A manager was called, to the counter to sign off on my withdrawal, in front of a line of customers.
I live in a small “safe” suburban town and I was fearful walking to my car which was parked directly in front of the bank. My experience with BOA is that there is zero discretion and no regard for safety. I can see why he asked for his transaction to be made privately.
I am a black woman.
becks1, this is perfect for “say you were the BoA manager who called the cops on Ryan Coogler, without saying you were the racist manager who called the cops on Ryan Coogler.”
This is appalling.
Story indicates an “alert” was triggered on the tellers computer, would this be due to the large amount being withdrawn?
Coogler had his account information, presumably identification…no reason to escalate. Why the hell was he cuffed?? Unless I missed it, he wasn’t uncooperative or combative.
Utter bullshit.
The alert may have been noting it was a cash transaction $10k or greater, which can trigger reporting requirements. There is nothing wrong with withdrawing your own money from a bank account… the IRS just likes to know who’s doing it when it’s a good chunk of cash.
But normal people, bank employees, would simply pull out the required form and hand it to the customer to complete, not hit a panic button and call the police.
What utter bullshit this is. And if he weren’t famous, this would be a non-story for America. America, we just have to do better.
He also could have been shot to death by the police. That certainly wouldn’t have been unheard of in this country. Just goddamn.
PLEASE don’t make this egregious act out to be anything other than what it is.
“He didn’t go about it the right way.”
SOUNDS LIKE
“She shouldn’t have had so much to drink.”
SOUNDS LIKE
“She shouldn’t have been dressed so provocatively.”
Way to keep victim-blaming alive and well. Keep telling on yourselves.
Exactly!! Thank you!
Boom!
Preach!!
yeah, I likened to the folks who say that Kap “didn’t protest the right way”.
Fluffybunny has been banned. When someone is trolling that hard please comment “troll” and don’t engage with them. This thread is a mess of racist bullshit and we can’t clean up all of it because there are too many responses.
Sorry for my role in feeding the troll.
Sorry! I always engage too much.
Is this something that’s happened before under similar circumstances? Is it procedural? Have they had issues like this arise before?
Those questions are big ones that should be asked. Because if they haven’t, they need to be honest about the circumstances here that led to something like this happening and what implicit biases may need worked out of the system and the people working in it.
This is what I am so curious about. No idea what bank processes are like im USA so I just am baffled this went from ‘why the note’ to ‘call the police’, especially if the police werent being called to protect what they thought was the victim of a scam. Obviously the handcuffing on arrival is a different matter again but I just don’t understand what normal bank procedure would look like for this to have played out. Did another member of staff see this from a distance and make a racist assessment of the situation and call the police? Did the teller trigger for police to be called without even reading the note!? What was the supposed message on the screen!? I mean, reading the other comments, particularly from Americans, I can see there doesn’t seem to be anything anyone is suggesting that explains how his couldve played out with any other explanation than racism so clearly that is the case. I guess my experience in uk bank was incredibly and overly rigid adherence to quite stifling rules and regs so I assumed that’s what be governing decision making but I was clearly looking at it through a totally wrong and irrelevant lens.
Did the teller not READ the damn note??? Because if the contents of the note are accurate (and I think we can assume it contained his account #), then that is clearly NOT a robbery attempt!! Or did she just see a note, HANDED TO HER BY A BLACK MAN, and assume “robbery”???
The fact that the teller is a black woman only, to me, highlights the fact that racism and racist attitudes can be internalized by EVERYONE, even black people. We ALL need to examine our behaviors and attitudes, whites and POC alike.
I’m replying to myself because there doesn’t seem to be the comment option at the bottom of the page….
anyway, I just wanted to say that almost every time I hear a (reprehensible) story like this, I am struck by the nearly continuous ability on the part of the wronged POC, to maintain their composure, keep their cool, and NOT freak out, which I certainly would. Even in the face of such horrifically offensive treatment.
It’s almost as if their lives depends on it.
(They often do)
God, I know this is so misplaced, but in the picture with Ryan in front of a microphone, he looks so damn hot. Sorry.
He is more magnanimous than me. My moving on would have been me closing all my accounts and moving to another bank. Makes no difference that the teller was a black woman. There is such a thing as internalized racism.
The article was really sad to read. Some of the comments were even worse. In a negative sense, this was absolutely eye-opening for me.
This particular BOA is on West Paces Ferry, one of the richest neighborhoods in Atlanta, so they should be accustomed to dealing with wealthy clientele. So, yeah, this is what institutional racism looks like.
The bank’s excuse to the police was probably that Ryan is “too urban” (referencing Christopher Nolan’s racist reasoning for rejecting Zoe Kravitz from his Batman movie).
I was a banker at Regions for 2 years. Customers write handwritten notes ALL the time. Not unusual at all! I’m in Florida but I think in Alabama, they are still under mask mandates. Idk why she would have freaked out and called the cops. Sounds to me like this teller is scared of black people. I’m assuming she’s white because I don’t think a black teller would have called the cops on him.
This was in Atlanta, which still had a mask mandate in place in January, when this occurred.
I was a banker at Regions for 2 years. Customers write handwritten notes ALL the time. Not unusual at all! I’m in Florida but I think in Alabama, they are still under mask mandates. Idk why she would have freaked out and called the cops. Sounds to me like this teller is scared of black people. I’m assuming she’s white because I don’t think a black teller would have called the cops on him. There is nothing unusual about what he did. The amount and the note, both are ordinary actions by customers
I’ll admit that my gut first reaction was that wearing sunglasses in the bank and passing the teller a note to “be discreet” seems shady and a bit suspicious, BUT, it’s kind of our responsibility as Americans in the year of our Lord 2022 to recognize that calling the police when an African American is involved could result in their death, so you better be pretty damn sure that something nefarious is going on before you do it. In this situation, the bank could have done better, they had every opportunity to realize that nothing criminal was going on and de-escalate. Everyone is very lucky no one was hurt.
Side note, aren’t banks supposed to do everything they can to get the robbers out the door without them hurting anyone, in the event of an actual hold up? Like, they are insured out the anus and don’t want the bad publicity.
I carry cash without fear of being robbed. i live in a rec state that doesn’t allow card transactions. I eat at pods that are cash only places and the food is amazing! I don’t venmo because I have cash, why pay more for something? cash is amazing….I feel like a baller leaving bills in the check fold thing and walking out at nice restaurants…no sir I don’t need a pen…and some yes, I do laugh at you when you see me leave and you mad dash to the table and eyeball me….
Why any American still gives their $ to BOA is a f-in mystery and maybe a marketing miracle. Most of the financial institutions that caused and then benefited from the housing collapse that led to millions being homeless are out of biz or merged into something else and there is BOA – still standing proudly: not paying US taxes and wrongfully charging overdraft fees since 2004!
There was recently an incident in North Dallas where a woman withdrew funds from a Chase Bank (at a teller window) got in her car, drive to the post office a few MILES away and was attacked in the parking lot.
The robber said (paraphrased) ‘Give me the money you withdrew from the bank.’
Coogler asking for discretion makes total sense!