Donors have so far handed over $21,000 to a fundraiser for a mentally ill homeless man who had a bucket of water poured over him by Dunkin' Donuts staff while charging his phone in the store to call his mother.
Jeremy Dufresne was resting at a table in the empty Dunkin' Donuts in Syracuse, New York, when an employee drenched him—all caught on camera by another member of staff who was laughing as he filmed.
Over five million people have watched the video, which made its way onto Facebook. "How many times have I got to tell you to stop sleeping in here, my n****," the staff member who poured the water says in the video. The incident happened Sunday night.
Samuel Breazeale, who uploaded the video to Facebook but said he did not film it, set up a GoFundMe page for Dufresne and the donations began rolling in.
In an update posted to the donations page, Breazeale uploaded a picture of The Marrone Law Firm and said he was setting up a trust "for Jeremy's benefit."
"I finally got in contact with his brother and mom," Breazeale wrote. "All proceeds made are going to Jeremy and family to help him get on his feet so there will be no more nights at Dunkin' Donuts. Thanks for the support!"
Breazeale did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement to CBS New York, the company that owns the Dunkin' Donuts franchise said it would apologize to Dufresne—and that the employees were fired.
"The employees involved in the incident have been terminated, and we will be contacting the individual in the video to apologize for the negative experience," said Kimberly Wolak, chief operating officer of Wolak Group.
"We were extremely disturbed by the behavior of our employees captured in the video. It not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values as an organization."
Dufresne and his mother Bobbie Jo Richardson gave interviews to Syracuse.com after the incident. Richardson said Dufresne suffers with epilepsy, a learning disability, and schizophrenia. His father was in a coma for 12 years and died when Dufresne was 14.
"The only time I talk to people is when I talk to my family," Dufresne said, adding that he likes to be alone and sleep outside despite attempts by his relatives to help.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Shane Croucher is a Senior Editor based in London, UK. He oversees the My Turn team. He has previously overseen ... Read more
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