In December 2017, as reported by TGP reporter Cassandra Fairbanks, an Ohio bakery filed a lawsuit against Oberlin College and its dean for slander, after the establishment was branded as “racist” after three black students (Jonathan Aladin, Endia Lawrence and Cecelia Whettstone) assaulted the shopkeeper and were arrested for attempting to steal wine.
The students claimed that they were simply trying to purchase the wine from Gibson’s Bakery using fake identification cards, but pleaded guilty to attempted theft and aggravated trespassing in August 2017. Campus Reform reports that part of their plea agreement included an admission that their actions were wrong and that the store had no racist intentions.
Allyn Gibson, the person working at the shop at the time, was repeatedly accused of racial profiling after being assaulted by the men — though no evidence was ever provided of his alleged racism. The Oberlin Student Senate even passed a resolution claiming that Gibson had “a history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment.” Continue reading