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Youth group evicted from Kansas City hotel

Published: Saturday, August 8, 2009 3:07 AM CDT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Dozens of children with a Connecticut youth group and their parents were kicked out of a Kansas City hotel in the middle of the night this week after hotel officials said they had gotten tired of fielding noise complaints from other guests.

But members of the Nation Drill Squad and Drum Corps, based in New Haven, claim their eviction from the Sheraton Kansas City Sports Complex Hotel culminated several days of what they called prejudicial treatment because they are black.

"Everyone should be respected regardless of your skin color," said Douglas Bethea, director of the group of 32 drummers and dancers, ages 4 to 17.

Bethea's group arrived at the hotel Sunday to participate in the Elks Grand Lodge World National Championships, a competition for youth drill and dance teams, which was held at another Kansas City hotel.

He claimed the group, which included more than a dozen chaperones, received poor treatment almost from the start with some of their 10 rooms lacking toilet paper and members having to wait two days for their rooms to be cleaned by housekeeping.

Ted Frerking, the hotel's general manager, said his staff received several noise complaints over the first three days, which they relayed to the group's leaders. He said he didn't know of any toilet paper supply problems and housekeepers may not have made the beds because the guests had left personal items on them and staff are prohibited from touching guests' property.

The group won numerous trophies at the competition Tuesday and returned to the hotel in high spirits, said Titiana Person, a parent of three drill squad members who was a chaperone on the trip.

She said hotel staff warned the group's adults about noise after some of the children came back from the swimming pool and were visiting each others' rooms.

"They were being typical kids," Person said. "They (hotel officials) wanted us to go in our rooms and stay in our rooms. That's not possible."

Frerking said the group was given a final warning at 10:30 p.m. and told that subsequent complaints would result in the group being asked to leave.

By 1:15 a.m., Bethea and Person said the children had settled down while some of the adults sat in one room, talking and laughing. They said a hotel official came to the room and said they were being evicted.

"He comes to the door and says, 'You people have to leave this hotel now ... or we will call the cops and they will come move you by force,"' Bethea said. "When they came to kick us out everyone was asleep."

He claimed eight officers came upstairs immediately and, armed with stun guns and Mace, helped hotel security pull group members from their beds.

"I was scared to hear cops with Tasers and things like that," said drummer Ronald Huggins, 17. "The kids were scared, we were scared. We didn't know what to expect."

Kansas City police spokesman Darin Snapp disputed parts of the account, saying there were only five officers at the hotel and they were present only to "keep the peace."

"At no time did we ever enter rooms or pull out Tasers or Mace; we didn't have to," Snapp said.

Frerking said his hotel's security doesn't carry stun guns or Mace. He denied the eviction was based on race.

"The only issue was noise," he said. "If other guests hadn't complained we would never know."

The group left Kansas City on Wednesday, and the hotel reimbursed the group for the two nights it didn't stay at the hotel. But Bethea said he is considering his legal options.

"What about the pain and suffering and the crying and the kids being woken up and scared half to death?" he said.


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gofish wrote on Aug 10, 2009 12:49 PM:

" Seems to me with the Obama love fest and civil rights embracement that the only ones that are creating racial issues are the ones who proclaimed that we had moved forward from that era. Perhaps it's more convenient to live in the 50's than to accept personal responsibilty for rude behavior. "

G.Willikers wrote on Aug 10, 2009 12:02 PM:

" Pain and suffering? Are you kidding me?!! What about the false accusations the group has made against the police and/or hotel employees? I'm sick to death of minorities using the race card to excuse their bad behavior and lack or respect for others. THis is just one more example. "

G.Willikers wrote on Aug 10, 2009 11:25 AM:

" The prevalent concept anymore seems like that if anything bad happens to someone of color the immediate response is to say it happened BECAUSE of their color. There is not even the slightest time taken to pause, reflect and think "could it be because we disturbed other guests". No, the immediate response is I'm black, they threw me out so I will say it's because of my race. Look at the statistics.....and those of you that want to play the race card need to learn what it means to respect others and start practicing it.

"By 1:15am the kids had settled down"??? That's about 3 hours and 15 minutes too late and after MULTIPLE complaints. "

bus driver wrote on Aug 9, 2009 9:17 PM:

" We have digressed back to the civil rights era since Obama was elected let face it going to get worse since January been more yelling racial that the last 5 years and Obama don't help but his comments about the Harvard professor. Is sad has become this way since I feel color of skin has nothing to do with how one acts. Has to do with maturity level. "

boscoe wrote on Aug 9, 2009 6:29 PM:

" Glad they kicked the noisy guests out. I HATE paying money for a motel room and then having to put up with unruly guests, doors slaming, and yelling in the hallways. "

bubbahotep wrote on Aug 9, 2009 6:13 PM:

" I worked suit and tie (plain clothes) security at a KC hotel. We many groups. I've had my share of throwing people out. Some with or without KCPD. White or black yelled and screamed. Too bad they had to throw down the race card.Stupid people come in all colors and places in the social strata. I never had anyone say I singled them out for being white. I only single out rude, stupid and inconsiderate people of all races. Be accountable for your actions "

factsnodrama wrote on Aug 9, 2009 3:39 PM:

" God forbid you should follow the rules after disturbing other guests for hours. It's called parenting, commom courtesy, and acting responsible. It has nothing to do with a persons skin color.

And this idiot is considering a law suit. Hey here's a thought, you don't want to get kicked out of a hotel? try respecting other guests, following rules, and going to bed at a decent hour. It was your third day there, the managment had obviously been quite tollorant of your antics, had enough, and kicked you out, you just happened to be black, so? It's 2009, and black entiltes you to exactely nothing more that the rest of us, those days are gone. "

sandhouse wrote on Aug 9, 2009 2:27 PM:

" jclocal.....

I agree completely. And if the noise complaints kept coming after repeated warnings then the hotel had every right to evict.

However, it certainly sounds like the situation wasn't handled very well. And with the exception of racist haters like phil, I think we can all agree that race should not have played any role in this incident. I hope that was indeed the case. "

jclocal123 wrote on Aug 9, 2009 9:30 AM:

" My only real problem with this story is the comment by a parent that "it's not possible" to make the kids go to their rooms and stay in their rooms. HA! I have been a chaperone on many events with large groups of teens. You are the adult...they should be listening to you! If you can't make the group listen and respect your authority as a chaperone and parent, then you shouldn't be on the trip. I think that statement is ridiculous and also an indicator of our times when a Parent/Adult/Chaperone can't control a group of kids. Give me a break! "

sandhouse wrote on Aug 8, 2009 5:01 PM:

" Hey phil....your slip is showing....

By "your kind" I'm thinking you don't mean Connecticut Yankees.

Why don't you take your hate and go swim in a lake. "

phillipbigr wrote on Aug 8, 2009 10:13 AM:

" we dont want your kind here we have enough to tend with of our own so leave "

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