JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man is planning to sue a Jacksonville hotel for what he calls a racially charged confrontation that ultimately led to he and his party getting kicked out Thursday night.
Antonio Bing, who taped a portion of the incident on his cellphone, said he is accused of violating hotel rules, but his attorney says race was a factor.
Bing says he was cited by Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for trespassing at the hotel last week after he paid $400 for two nights use of a suite at the Hilton Garden Inn on Kings Avenue. He said a few hours after checking in, without any warning from hotel employees, the police were knocking on the hotel door, saying, "Ya'll have to leave. That's it."
The police officer told Bing he had to leave the premises or be charged with trespassing.
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On Bing's cellphone video, the hotel receptionist said he was kicked out for smoking in his room.
"This is not your house," the clerk is heard saying on the video. "You can video this all you want. Let me explain how the law works."
Bing told News4Jax he requested a smoking room and was kicked out based on how he looks.
Bing said his friends packed up their music equipment from the hotel suite where he says they had planned to compose songs. He says he then called police himself because he wanted his $400 back. You can hear the receptionist say that Bing's group violated hotel rules.
"The fact that he broke our rules. We provided the room. He smoked in a nonsmoking room. ... We are a no-smoking hotel, and it says that on our website."
"When I paid for this key, we told them we were having a party and going to be smoking in this room," Bing said.
Bing's lawyer, Reginald Estelle, said he plans to sue the Hilton Garden Inn because he believes race played a factor in Bing being asked to leave.
"A lot of people will see this and say, 'Hey, he's smoking in the room. He should have left," Estelle said. "You really have to look at the big picture. If that would have been Mayor (Lenny) Curry or someone else, would the staff have taken that action and would the officer speak to him in that way?"
"We were discriminated against," Bing said. "They kicked us out of a hotel like we don't have the right to be there."
The general manager at the Hilton Garden Inn would not talk to News4Jax, but in an email to Bing, hotel management wrote: "Please accept our sincerest apologies for any aggravation or inconvenience experienced during your visit. I do see from the file that you requested a smoking room. I also see the hotel has a new non-smoking policy. Someone from upper management will be contacting you regarding the discrimination you experienced with hotel staff."
We did verify the authenticity of the email with the hotel's general manager, who pointed out that it was sent to Bing from the corporate office. He says they do not know all the facts of this case.