LaKeycia Ward, her mother and younger sister recently went to the Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen in Macon to have a nice dinner.
Instead, Ward, 19, captured a confrontation between two black military service members and a white family that has gone viral .
“I was really, really shocked” said Ward, a Macon hairstylist. “ In school we were always educated on how black people were slaves, couldn’t drink from the same water fountain and how things were separate. I honestly felt like I was in the 1900s. I said, ‘My God, it’s really racist things going on’.”
Jody Tucker, 71, has been banned from the restaurant for her behavior. She was arrested by the Bibb Coounty Sheriff’s Office on a battery charge and released on $650 bond. Other family members who were with her were not charged in connection with the incident.
She uploaded the video to YouTube. The video, which Ward has since licensed, has been viewed more than 771,000 times.
Related: Ex-Mercer teacher banned from restaurant after viral video of fight
Although some reports indicate the confrontation was over a parking space, Ward said that isn’t true. She said she and her family, the soldiers and the white family
arrived about the same time.
Tucker and her family were trying to pull into an handicapped parking space, said Ward. The military members went going around them.
Once inside, the military members, dressed in fatigues, were approached by Tucker and her family. Ward said Tucker’s son called them “black lesbian (expletives), according to a previous Atlanta Journal Constitution story.
Related: Starbucks manager leaves company after controversial arrest of two black men
Ward said she overheard one service woman say she was not “entertaining” the Tuckers and “I don’t have to talk to you. Leave us alone.”
One of the service members was pregnant.
One of the women started recording the exchange and Tucker and her son tried to snatch the phone away from her.
Ward said she has heard from people from as far away as India, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
She said she hasn’t gotten any blowback for posting the video nor has she heard from the people involved.
“I feel like I did something good,” she said. “Most people are glad that I caught this moment.”
About the Author
