A woman seen on video yelling vulgar and racist insults to customers in a Kentucky mall may be permanently banned from the shopping space.
The Associated Press reported that the now-viral video shows a woman who was not identified angrily telling customers in front of her to "go back to wherever the (expletive) you come from, lady" in the checkout line.
The video was recorded at JCPenney in Jefferson Mall in Louisville, Kentucky. The Courier-Journal reported that it had been viewed 5.5 million times.
WHAS reported that Renee Buckner originally uploaded the video to Facebook along with a description. According to Buckner, the woman became angry when a Hispanic woman cut the line to bring some extra items to be rung up with another customer at the cash register.
"You all are nobodies. Just because you come from another country it don't make you nobody," the woman said n the video. "You're probably on welfare. The taxpayers probably paid for all that stuff."
Buckner described the reactions of other shoppers.
"At that point I think everybody was kind of like yeah, that's not right. No one said it but no one was against (the cutting in line), but then when the racist remarks started you can tell people were embarrassed and ashamed,
The original upload of the video has since been removed from Facebook but is still on YouTube.
"I am sad and disappointed to see conduct like this, when one person so dehumanizes another human being," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement to WDRB. "This is not who we are, and on behalf of our community, I apologize to the two women who were treated in such a horrible way. I hope this video prompts many discussions among families as they gather for the holidays this week -- discussions about basic human values, dignity and respect. As a country of immigrants, we must understand that we only move forward through peace, acceptance and embracing those who are different from us. These are basic American values protected in our Constitution, values embraced in this welcoming, compassionate community."
Jefferson Mall issued the following statement on Facebook Tuesday:
We are aware of the video posted online today from inside JCPenney. Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests and we absolutely do not condone this type of behavior. We will work with JCPenney to identify this woman and once identified, she will permanently be banned from Jefferson Mall, per our behavior code.
JCPenney said the following in a statement through a spokesperson:
We are deeply disturbed by the incident that took place at our Jefferson Mall store, in which one customer made extremely inappropriate remarks to two other customers while standing in the checkout line. We regret that innocent bystanders – both other customers and a JCPenney associate – were subjected to such discriminatory remarks. We absolutely do not tolerate this behavior in our stores, and are working with our associates to ensure any future incidents of this nature will be addressed quickly and appropriately. In the meantime, JCPenney is asking for the community's help in identifying the two women who were targeted for such remarks, as we would like to reimburse them for their entire purchase and offer a sincere apology for their experience.
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