Man arrested after racially-charged incident at Sumter grocery store

SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - The Sumter Police Department has arrested a man in connection with a racially-charged incident that occurred in a grocery store last week.

The incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m. on April 9.

Officials say 27-year-old John Walter Miles was shopping with his girlfriend when he became irate because the clerk refused to sell them alcohol.

According to police reports, Miles refused to leave the store and called an employee a racial slur. He was also caught on camera saying Black lives don’t matter and cussing out other people in the store.

GRAPHIC WARNING: The video embedded below contains foul and offensive language.

“Black lives DONT matter”!!! THE THINGS WE AS FRONT LINE WORKERS GO THRU....THESE ARE THE TYPE OF PEOPLE WE LIVE...
Posted by Jasmine Nicole on Friday, April 9, 2021

He was eventually escorted from the premises.

Miles has been charged with aggravated breach of peace and trespassing. He has been booked at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center.