A white woman was recorded verbally attacking three black customers in a Tennessee Target store last week after she claimed to have overheard them talking about sex.
The unidentified white woman—who has been branded "Target Tammy" by social media users—was heard in the footage telling the women "I know you are trained online" and "you are perfect for the court system, you should all go to court because you are trained liars."
The incident, which happened in Nashville, reportedly started after the white woman reacted to their conversation about Eartha Kitt in the 1992 movie Boomerang. "Are you having sex in public, because that is what you screamed out loud," the woman, in a NASA sweatshirt, alleged.
One of the targeted customers attempted to distance her friends from the woman. She was heard saying: "I want us to stop engaging with this woman. Let's stop engaging with her please."
But the attacks continued: "I understand you are an abuser. I understand you are abusive. I understand you are abusive and you make up lies on the spot. Should I write it down? All the negative things you have said about me already in our interaction? I didn't realize personal attacks were normal. I also didn't realize that talking about sex in public was normal."
She added, bizarrely: "It's OK, I know you are trained online. I know you are trained liars. You are perfect for the court system, you should all go to court because you are trained liars."
One woman in the targeted group told Yahoo Lifestyle the encounter was unprovoked. She said: "I told my friend to try on a hat that looked like something Eartha Kitt's character would wear in the film and she said no because her character had sex with a younger man.
"We were confused—then [the white woman] came around the corner with her shopping cart and started ranting, 'You don't belong here' and calling our conversation inappropriate."
The targeted woman—whose identity was kept anonymous for privacy reasons—told Yahoo Lifestyle the lady was still "playing victim" as they left the store after making their purchase.
In the footage, the white woman was heard saying: "What they were doing was wrong and they are accusing me of being the wrongdoer." The Nashville woman's name remains unknown.
The video was initially uploaded to Facebook, but has since been deleted. The post was likened the incident involving Jennifer Schulte—known as "BBQ Becky" online—who called the police on two black men who were making a family meal in a designated grilling zone in California.
Before deletion from Facebook, the clip had been viewed more than 15,000 times.
It was later shared widely across Twitter. "Another white woman decided not to mind her own damn business," one user noted, sharing the footage. Another person tweeted on Sunday: "Beware of #TargetTammy as you are about minding your business #Christmas shopping."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jason Murdock is a staff reporter for Newsweek.
Based in London, Murdock previously covered cybersecurity for the International Business Times UK ... Read more
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