In an incident captured on TikTok, @blackmagicsmg, an African American man eating gummy worms at a grocery store before paying for them, is confronted by a white woman who flashes her ID, telling him “that’s who made me security” as she checks to see if he paid for his snacks, according to the Daily Dot.
The viral video has gotten over 1.8 million views, been liked more than 160,000 times and commented on by more than 1,900 people since it was posted.
More from the Daily Dot on how the incident unfolded:
User @blackmagicsmg asks a so-called “Karen” who is watching him in a grocery story why she is mad at him. “You don’t see me paying for my stuff?” he says while eating gummy worms and using the self-checkout machine.
“Who made you security? Out here, confronting us?” the TikToker, who is Black, asks the woman, who is white.
The woman pulls out her wallet and says “that’s who made me security” and shows him an ID card with her photo. It’s unclear what the card is for. The TikToker then offers her a gummy worm (she declines) and shows her his receipt.
In the caption of the video, @blackmagicsmg referred to the woman as a “Karen” and said showing her ID was a “check mate.”
The comment section had a ball and was filled with laughing emojis.
“She showed her AARP card,” one user wrote.
“It’s a bus card,” wrote another.
Another user added, “Pulled the Karen card out.”
While some found the woman’s actions amusing, others used it to criticize her for thinking the man was stealing.
One user commented, “It isn’t stealing unless you walk out of the store. He even paid for the lollies in the end and she is there talking the talk.”
From the Daily Dot:
According to FindingLaw, an outlet that provides legal expertise, eating food in a grocery store is not shoplifting.
“You need to have committed the act of taking the item and have the intention of evading the checkout counter in order to be found guilty of shoplifting, according to the law,” states FindingLaw. The outlet also clarifies that “shopkeepers generally have discretion” when detaining a shopper who they suspect to be shoplifting.
In addition, the package of gummy worms that @blackmagicsmg bought had a fixed price, unlike items like produce that are priced by weight.