Jack G in the airport being questioned by police.
Jack Gilinsky was arrested in 2016.
He was arrested in an airport when he accidently forgot to pay for a sweatshirt that he had forgotten that he had still had in his bag. His friend Jack Johnson was with him and documented his arrest on Snapchat and social media.
Thankfully, JG was eventually let out of jail on bail unharmed, and they posted a video together after Jack J got him out of jail.
The hashtag #FreeGilinsky trended on twitter for a day.
Controversy[]
This arrest led to a lot of controversy and a lot of people bringing up the issues of being white privileged in an arrest. People thought this because:
- JJ expected a store manager to take his friend's word for it when he says he didn't steal a sweater despite the fact he was caught walking through an airport with it.
- JG thought he could pay his way out of trouble.
- They both expected the police to let JG off the hook.
- JJ joked about the idea of something "traumatizing" going down behind bars when that's an actual reality for people of color.