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A University of New Mexico professor alleges he was racially profiled which led to him being asked to leave a Dunkin’ Donuts earlier this week. Timothy Nelson said he was waiting for his car to be serviced when he decided to stop into a Santa Fe Dunkin’ Donuts.

Then after stepping outside then returning to use the donut shop’s Wi-Fi, Nelson says an employee told he had to leave because of the “one-hour” rule for customers.

Nelson who teaches Africana studies told KOB 4, “It’s as if saying, ‘We don’t need your kind around here. We don’t need your stuff. We don’t need all that you’re bringing around here …’”

Nelson captured the incident and posted it to Facebook, and later showed the video to his students and his 12-year-old daughter in hopes they could learn something from it.

“I didn’t know if it was because I was black if it was racism or not,” he says in the video. “All I know is that Dunkin’ Donuts all of a sudden has a one-hour rule. I have never heard of a doughnut shop that has a rule that you can only be in it — even after you pay for something — for an hour.

“At this moment we need to talk about this,” Nelson added. “This is New Mexico, bro. You know what I mean? It’s New Mexico.”

Nelson, a Black man has dreads and was wearing an Army Jacket at the time of the incident admitted that he might have looked unprofessional or “suspicious.” He suggested that things might have been handled differently if he was dressed more professional.

“I get what it could look like if you thought I had bad intentions — but that is where the problem is,” Nelson said. “I don’t think I would have had a problem if I looked different or if I was wearing something different.”

However, store owner Irene Duebel insists Nelson’s race or appearance wasn’t a factor in the incident. Duebel told The Sante Fe New Mexican, she asked the professor to leave because she thought he hadn’t purchased anything.

“I know what my policy is and it’s going to remain,” she told the newspaper. “It’s not because he was black. It’s because he was sitting here without purchasing something. If I went to the store, I would never do that.”

Duebel claims Nelson became enraged and behaved like a “madman” when was asked to leave.

At this time it is still unclear if the “one-hour” rule only applies to the Sante Fe location or is a company-wide policy

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