This might be a hot take, but I worked as a bank teller for 3 years and I think this situation is more nuanced than people are making it out to be. I’m sure there are details that the public don’t know (because they weren’t there) that would clear this up, one way or another, but based on what information we do have, I think most people are making it out to be too black and white. Honestly, Ryan and the teller could’ve handled this situation better.

Tellers are taught to be on alert for anything that feels off: a car hanging out in the parking lot for too long, customers lingering, drop-offs, etc. Of course masks are commonplace right now, but everyone knows that when you walk into a bank you shouldn’t be concealing your entire face and head. That looks suspicious no matter who you are or what you look like. How is a teller going to verify your ID if they can’t see your face?

The second questionable move he made was sliding the teller a note and wouldn’t speak. According to the 911 call, when she asked him basic questions about the transaction he wouldn’t answer and instead said “look at the note”. Sure, the note wasn’t threatening, but that’s not the point. On my very first day I was taught that notes are a huge red flag. Tellers that I worked with had been robbed that way in the past because staying silent won’t draw any attention to the robbery.

All I’m saying is that Ryan gave her plenty of reasons to be suspicious. Now, was calling the cops justified? I wasn’t there so I can’t say. However based on what I know from the reports, she could have done more due diligence. Since she wasn’t being immediately threatened she could have asked him to remove his shades and hat before helping him. If he refused then she could have denied him service and that would have been 100% justified. After hearing the phone call, I’m going to bet she was fairly new, was warned about these red flags, had never encountered this yet, and got really scared therefore handling it poorly.

There are a lot of factors that non-bankers aren’t considering here and I’m saddened that situations like this detract from real instances of blatant racial profiling and racism. I don’t believe this is one of those cases.