‘She Was Just Watching Me’: Florida Woman Claims Barnes & Noble Staff Who Accused Her of Stealing Were Racially Profiling Her
A Barnes & Noble customer in Florida has accused shop staff of discriminating against her after they accused her of stealing. The woman filmed and posted the interaction on TikTok, where she can be heard claiming that employees accused her of putting stuff in her bag, before claiming that she was being racially profiled.
The woman, who goes by “Hendrix” on TikTok, posted the video showing the tense stand-off between her and the shop staff last week. In the caption, she claimed that the “lady followed me around the store and called for “backup.” One of the managers came up to me and stated “we see you slipping cds in your bag.” She claimed that she opened up her bag to show them that there was nothing inside.
In the video, Hendrix can be heard accusing one employee in particular af calling other employees to check what was in her bag. The staff member can be heard saying, “You’re good, we’re just gonna hold the CDs until you’re ready to check out.” Hendrix claimed that the female employee was “watching me the whole time while I was browsing the CDs” and then allegedly accused Hendrix of putting something in her bag.
The employee is heard denying Hendrix’s accusation before Hendrix tells the crowd of Barnes & Noble staff, “I’ve just been racially profiled and I don’t appreciate that.” The staff claims that the store has a lot of theft, but Hendrix fires back, telling them that there was a group of teens in the same spot and yet they apparently singled her out.
People on TikTok want to boycott the Barnes & Noble location
Hendrix said that the incident took place in Altamonte Springs, Florida, and commenters on TikTok vowed to boycott the location: “We need to not give them our dollars,” wrote one person. Others agreed that the staff was acting in a discriminatory manner towards Hendrix: “this is racist profiling. that white woman should be fired.”
There were more than a few calls for the staff members to be fired over Hendrix’s ordeal, with one commenter pointing out, “No one [is] apologizing,” while another noted, “She said we’ll hold them the CDs. She’s still accusing you.”
Eventually Hendrix decided to leave the store without buying the items she came in for, telling the employees, “I don’t like that she just did that; that was very disrespectful.” Shortly afterward, she walks away but soon returns, sounding more emotional than she did before: “You guys have to understand how that feels; I didn’t even put anything in my bag.”
Since then, there has yet to be an update from either Hendrix or Barnes & Noble on the situation. However, some TikTok users have commented on the Barnes & Noble TikTok account’s latest post calling for the employee in the video to be fired.
(Featured image: jerlieyha, TikTok)
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