Almost a year after Peter Wogbah first shared his experience of alleged discrimination at a US bank branch in Bloomington, his story is now part of a larger call for reform in Washington, DC
Wogbah’s experience with the Minnesota-based company was highlighted during a committee hearing Thursday in the US Senate.
As 5 INVESTIGATES first reported, cashiers called police on Wogbah, a black man, when he tried to get a bank check from his business account in December 2021.
Body camera video obtained by 5 INQUIRIES shows officers stopped and questioned Wogbah before letting him go.
Janai Nelson, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, cited Wogbah’s story in her testimony before the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
Peter Wogbah’s experience at a US bank branch was quoted Thursday before a US Senate committee on banking discrimination.
“Even after he called the US bank’s 1-800 number to confirm the funds were there, the cashiers told Mr. Wogbah to go to another branch and pick up the check there,” Nelson told senators. “Then they called the police. This discrimination has serious consequences.”
This story was shared, among others, at the hearing entitled “Fairness in Financial Services: Racism and Discrimination in Banking”.
Wogbah watched video of the testimony at his home on Friday.
“I’m very grateful that people see what Black people — what we’re going through in this country,” Wogbah said. “I want US Bank to take responsibility for how it treats its customers.”
In previous statements to 5 INVESTIGATES, the US bank said it had expanded staff training and established a community advisory committee “made up of 11 leaders from the Twin Cities Black community.”
The US bank had no further comment on Senate testimony in which Nelson and other leaders said the banking industry needed to do more.
“These financial institutions, designed to serve the community and boost our economies, have deprived specific communities of an equal opportunity to save for the future, invest in a business, buy a home, and most importantly, build generational wealth,” Nelson said. “The costs will not be borne by communities of color alone. It is sustained by our economy, which could be thriving, which could be far more expansive if this discrimination did not occur.”
Wogbah says he withdrew his money from the US bank but is still considering legal action.
For related stories: 5 Investigates Banking During Black Bloomington Eric Rasmussen US Senate