Danvers Apologizes In Racial Profiling Accusation At Connors Farm

DANVERS, MA — Danvers officials on Thursday publicly apologized to a Cambridge School Committee member and her family — saying "discriminatory behavior has no place in Danvers or any other community" — after Rev. Manikka Bowman said her family was racially profiled this weekend at Connors Farm.

Town officials said they received a letter from Bowman describing the events, which the letter said included a "racially insensitive comment made by the Danvers police officer who was called to respond."

Officials said they have reached out to the family and have scheduled a meeting to further discuss the incident.

Connors Farm, which is privately owned, did not immediately return Patch's request for comment.

"The town extends its apologies for the unsettling experience the family had at a local business and for the comment made by a Danvers employee," said the joint statement from Town Manager Steve Bartha, Police Chief James Lovell, Select Board Chair Gardner Trask and Human Rights and Inclusion Committee Chair Dutrochet Djoko.

Bowman, the Vice-Chair of the Cambridge School Committee, and Jeff Myers gave their account of what took place on Monday in an online post that was also shared in the comments section of the official Danvers police social media page.

The family said they went to Connors Farm with their 18-month-old and 7-year-old children for a "last day of summer fun before the school starts" and paid more than $100 for all-day admission. They said they were wrapping up their day, intending to buy additional apple cider donuts at the farm store, when Bowman said she realized one of the children had overstuffed a bag of apples.

"This is where things took a turn for the worse," she wrote. "Before we got to the farm store, an unidentified security officer stopped us for having too many apples that were not in the designated apple bag that we had paid for. The bag, which had been placed at the bottom of the stroller, had fallen over, and some of the fruit had fallen out as we were walking to the farm store.

"Is this what put Connors Farm security on alert?"

She went on to detail how they were escorted to the farm store by additional security officers, and she had her purse checked for "concealed" fruit, according to her account.

"Of course, there wasn't any!" she posted. "I asked the person why were we being treated this way? And did they treat other guests this way?

"As it became apparent that the security guards, along with a third employee who was located in the farm building, were accusing our family of stealing, our outrage at the false accusation and the embarrassment and confusion it was causing us grew stronger."

She said police were then called and "despite our visible frustration and attempts to explain the situation, he never took our position seriously." She said the officer then accused the family of "playing the race card."

"Why was this happening?" she said she thought at the moment. "We looked at each other, wondering: 'What made them suspect us of stealing? Had our skin color influenced their thinking? Were we presumed guilty because we are an African-American family? Why hadn't they taken a much simpler, customer-friendly route and presumed our innocence with a simple reminder on what to do with any fruit that did not fit in the bag?'"

The family said they were told it was security's job to prevent stealing, but contend it was security who caused the scene and left their 7-year-old in tears.

In the posted account of events, the family requested a written apology from the Connors Farm owners, that the money the family spent at Connors Farm be refunded in the form of a donation to the Essex County Community Foundation, with the specific purpose of supporting their racial equality work, and a commitment from the Connors Farm ownership and the Danvers Police Department that their staff will undergo diversity, equity and inclusion training.

"A request we believe is entirely reasonable and appropriate," town officials said in their statement. "The town has also been in contact with the business involved, expressed its disappointment, and encouraged the business to issue an apology, honor the requests of the family, and provide diversity, equity and inclusion training for their employees."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)