BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- A week ago today Craig McDaniel and his two sons went to a movie theater in Boynton Beach. They arrived early to get a good seat for the opening weekend of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
"There was a gentleman that walked in with what appeared to us to be a military-type backpack," McDaniel said. "He walked and sat down in the row behind us, put his backpack in the seat next to him and started unloading. He took out two plastic bags and one had a two liter bottle of fluid in it, which he took and sat under the seat next to him. He had a couple of cords, he started plugging things in."
McDaniel sent his oldest son to alert theater staff.
"At that point several people around where he was sitting got up and moved," McDaniel said. "There were concerned people in the theater."
McDaniel said moments later his son returned with a movie theater employee, "They came in and they started to try to tell me this is a regular customer."
McDaniel said the duffle bag was eventually removed from the theater, but the whole experience didn't sit well. He emailed the theater and received this response about his experience, "...I am sorry to hear that it was not an enjoyable one due to your concern with the customer with the back pack... The customers and managers followed Cinemark's policies and procedures to ensure our customers were safe during this busy feature... The customer in question posed no risk."
We also reached out to Cinemark for information on their bag policy and comment on this specific incident. Our phone calls and emails have not been returned. The managers at the Cinemark theater in Boynton Beach directed us to a 1-800 number.
"What's to stop this guy from having brought in weapons from his bag," McDaniel added. "To see that kind of fear in people it's irresponsible for a movie to allow that to happen."
McDaniel also posted about his experience to Facebook and said he hopes Cinemark will take notice.